Prep football: Opportunistic Sea Kings win, 45-21

Barry Faulkner

SANTA ANA - Though host Saddleback High went without a huddle when

it had the ball, it was the Corona del Mar offense that seemed to have a

better sense of urgency Friday night at the Santa Ana Bowl.

The Sea Kings (2-1-1), ranked No. 9 in CIF Southern Section Division

IX, scored touchdowns on their first four possessions to cruise to the

nonleague football victory.

“They made mistakes,” CdM Coach Dick Freeman said of the young

Roadrunners, who start several sophomores. “I think they stopped

themselves, more than we stopped them.”

Indeed, Saddleback (0-4), off to its worst start in at least a decade,

had five turnovers. The hosts also gave CdM a short field twice, when

they failed to execute a pair of punt snaps.

CdM drove 59 yards on eight plays with the opening kickoff to open the

scoring, then turned back-to-back punt snap snafus, which set the Sea

Kings up at the Saddleback 26- and 29-yard line, respectively, into

touchdowns for a 21-0 first-quarter lead.

After Saddleback answered with an 11-play, 73-yard touchdown drive to

make it 21-7 two plays into the second quarter, CdM needed just two plays

to regain the three-touchdown edge, with junior Mark Cianciulli sprinting

55 yards untouched off left tackle. K.C. Rawlins booted the fourth of his

six conversion kicks and CdM was, once again, in command.

The Sea King defense, which had trouble staying with a physical

Saddleback ground game, made some big plays in the second half to help

keep the Roadrunners from rallying.

Steve Ward returned an interception 33 yards to thwart Saddleback’s

first second-half possession, setting up a 9-yard scramble for a

touchdown by CdM quarterback Dylan Hendy.

After an exchange of punts, senior end Steven Russell forced a fumble

and sophomore inside linebacker Dave Simon scooped it up and ran 26 yards

to set up an eventual 32-yard field goal by Rawlins.

Three plays after the ensuing kickoff, junior outside linebacker Kris

Cooper jumped a route in the flat, intercepted and ran 64 yards to

paydirt to put the visitors up, 45-14, with 1:33 left in the third.

Cornerback Jonathan Hubbard intercepted at his own 1-yard line and

Keith Long stepped in front of a pass at his own 20 to further frustrate

the Saddleback passing game and allow the banged-up Sea Kings (they

dressed only 29 players) to remain comfortably ahead in the fourth

quarter.

Saddleback did not appear discouraged, however. The Roadrunners kept

pounding between the tackles on offense, with sophomore Ramiro Chavez

doing most of the damage.

Chavez, who came in with just more than 200 rushing yards the first

three games, rumbled for 215 yards on 42 attempts, bashing over with

second effort from the 1 with eight seconds left to finalize the scoring.

CdM’s inability to consistently stop the Saddleback ground game gave

Freeman some cause for concern.

“Our secondary is playing OK, but we’re not getting what we want out

of our front,” Freeman, the Sea Kings’ defensive coordinator and a former

Saddleback assistant, said. “It’s like we’re just hanging on. We’ve had

this experience every one of our last three games. Unless (opposing

offenses) make a mistake, we don’t stop anybody.”

Freeman was pleased with his offensive performance, which was keyed by

Cianciulli’s 155 rushing yards on just 11 carries.

Hendy was also effective with the pass, completing 10 of his first 13,

en route to 114 aerial yards, including an 18-yard catch-and-run for a

touchdown by Steven Ward.

Fullback Matt Cooper and tailback Long added rushing touchdowns for

the winners, who have now beaten Saddleback eight of their last 10

meetings.

Russell, who also starts at tackle on offense, said the offense does

feel some responsibility to keep producing points, while the defense is

struggling.

“There is a little pressure on our offense,” Russell said. “But we

believe we can score every time.”