Prep football: Bravehearts -- CdM secondary

Barry Faulkner

Corona del Mar High football coach Dick Freeman couldn’t pinpoint

the circumstances, but he had a good idea the Saddleback passing game

would provide a challenge for his youthful secondary Thursday night at

the Santa Ana Bowl.

“I wasn’t sure whether it would be (the Roadrunners) scheme, or that

we may get a lead, so they’d have to throw,” Freeman said. “But I told

our guys they needed to give us big plays.”

The CdM secondary responded in resounding fashion. The Sea Kings

intercepted four passes, which they returned a combined 138 yards. Junior

outside linebacker Kris Cooper, who in the Sea Kings’ scheme has a

high-profile presence in coverage, returned his interception 64 yards for

a touchdown.

Senior cornerback Steven Ward returned his pick 33 yards to set up a

TD.

Junior cornerback Jonathan Hubbard intercepted at his own 1-yard line

to turn away a scoring threat and junior outside ‘backer Keith Long

snatched a flat pass and dashed 35 yards into Saddleback territory to

hamper the hosts’ fourth-quarter comeback bid.

Junior cornerback Mark Cianciulli and junior safety K.C. Rawlins were

also on the field most of the night, while junior safety Bart Welch

contributed as well.

“I thought they played real well as a group,” Freeman said. “It’s a

real athletic group, but there isn’t a lot of experience.

Among the five starters at outside backer, corner and safety, only

Cooper (four games), Rawlins (three) and Cianciulli (two) started games

last season.

Welch made four starts as a sophomore, but Freeman said the lack of

experience sometimes manifests itself in conservative play.

“They’re still kind of leery back there,” Freeman said. “But as they

figure things out better, they become more aggressive.”

This pattern held true against Saddleback, which completed five of its

first eight passes, but only four of its last 12. The four interceptions

came after halftime.

The interceptions were the Sea Kings’ first in three games, since Ward

(who returned his 95 yards for a TD), Rawlins and inside linebacker Matt

Cooper picked off Cypress passes in a season-opening victory.

In addition to their pass coverage, the CdM secondary has been called

upon to make many tackles, Freeman said.

“Rawlins (5-foot-9, 162 pounds) is our leading tackler,” Freeman said.

“Long (6-1, 190) and Kris Cooper (6-2, 195) have some size, but the rest

of those guys are tiny. But they’ve made a lot of tackles.”