Prep football: House of pain

Barry Faulkner

CORONA DEL MAR - Following a 47-7 nonleague loss to Back Bay rival

Newport Harbor High, Corona del Mar football coach Dick Freeman was more

concerned with the injury report than the scoreboard or the stat sheet.

As Freeman confirmed after the game, before an estimated 7,000 Friday

at Orange Coast College, junior guard-linebacker John Daley sustained a

broken wrist and starting outside linebacker Jeff Reed went down with a

broken collarbone.

Both will be out an unspecified time, as will junior lineman Jason

Kidushim, who aggravated a left ankle injury.

The news got worse Sunday, when Freeman reported senior tight

end-defensive end Tyler McClellan had suffered a rib cage injury. Freeman

said the full extent of the injury was not known, but typically the pain

involved with a rib problem can keep players on the sideline for extended

periods.

Freeman isn’t sure when these players will return, but contingency

plans are already being formulated to replace them.

Brad Sperber filled in for Daley on offense Friday and will continue

to be asked to fill that void.

Reed’s outside ‘backer spot was filled by Keith Long and Matt Wilson,

while Daley’s defensive duty was assumed by Matt Boyce.

Boyce, however, may be shifted to end to fill in for McClellan,

leaving a hole at inside linebacker Freeman said might be taken over by

junior Dave Simon, who started one game at end.

Freeman said his team failed to overcome Newport Harbor’s physical

prowess and joked that the gate receipts from one of the largest crowds

in the Battle of the Bay series, could be used to “buy a weight machine,

so we can get stronger.”

Added Freeman, jokingly “Now I know why a school like Idaho plays at

Michigan.”

Asked if the physical toll, as well as a trend of Harbor victories in

seven of the last eight meetings between the two crosstown foes, had

initiated thoughts of backing out of the series, Freeman said the thought

“popped into his head. But I’m not sure that’s my decision.”

CdM did manage a 28-18 victory in 1998, but has been outscored by the

Sailors, 117-17, in three straight losses since. Further, Newport

defeated the Sea Kings, by a combined margin of 97-28 in the two years

prior to CdM’s last victory.

“Size-wise, we don’t compare to (the Sailors),” said Freeman, whose

defensive front seven gave away an average of 51 pounds per man to the

six-man Harbor blocking wall. “We’ve got to do something to be able to

play against people much bigger than us. Irvine (which twice defeated

Newport last year with a defense that included only one player who

weighed more than 200 pounds) did it.”

Though Freeman said there were very few positives from his 1-1-1

team’s first loss, he did single out the effort of junior safety K.C.

Rawlins (17 tackles), junior defensive tackle Jayson Skalla, junior

defensive end Joseph Carr and senior offensive tackle Steven Russell.

“There were a few individual efforts, but we really didn’t do well at

all,” Freeman said. “We didn’t get the teamwork we wanted on defense.”