Football: Positive signs for CdM in tri-scrimmage

Tony Altobelli

ORANGE - What the Corona del Mar High football team lacked in

volume, it made up for with brains and execution during Friday’s

tri-scrimmage with Villa Park and Pacifica, held at El Modena High.

“We made some adjustments and we started to execute very well out

there,” CdM Coach Dick Freeman said. “Our offense started to click out

there at the end and I was happy with the way we improved from the

beginning of the scrimmage.”

With only 28 dressed players, the Sea King players saw plenty of time

on the field, both offensively and defensively. While the CdM offense

made some noise, the defense drew some concern to Freeman.

“Our tackling still needs a lot of work,” Freeman said. “Plus, our

defensive line was getting stood up out there. We’ve got to do a better

job of that between now and next Friday for our opener.”

On the positive side, Freeman was happy with the Sea Kings’ pass rush,

led by senior defensive end Tyler McClellan.

“We got to the quarterback on more than one occasion, which was very

nice to see,” Freeman said. “The other teams were bigger and faster, but

we made our adjustments and we made some things happen.”

After a couple of uneventful drives on offense, CdM’s third stint with

the ball was very impressive. Senior quarterback Dylan Hendy connected on

four straight passes for 100 yards. Included in that stretch was

completions of 24, 27 and 36 yards.

“We managed to get in front of people and we made some plays,” Freeman

said. “That offensive success came against their (Pacifica’s) first unit

defense, which was also nice. Not only that, but we only had two starting

offensive linemen out there.”

The CdM running game also showed signs of life, running for 65 yards

on nine carries.

Freeman knows that the success of his team will be determined on how

well his team can outthink the other opponent.

“There’s not a lot of seniors on the squad and there isn’t a lot of

returners,” Freeman said. “We just have to continue to improve each day

and try to understand what the other team is trying to do against us. The

good thing about today was that I saw our team get better.”

The Sea Kings will kick off their 2001 season Friday night against

Cypress at Newport Harbor High, beginning at 7.

“We’ll look at the films from today and see where we can go from

here,” Freeman said. “There’s still a lot of work to be done.”