Prep football: Survival mode

Barry Faulkner

IRVINE - The Corona del Mar High football team is playing for more

than milestones and memories when it faces unbeaten Northwood tonight at

7 o’clock in the Pacific Coast League finale at Irvine High.

Coach Dick Freeman’s Sea Kings (5-3-1, 2-2 in league) have already

been eliminated from one of the league’s three guaranteed berths into the

CIF Southern Section Division IX playoffs. But, ranked No. 10 in Division

IX, they can still claim the lone at-large berth in the 16-team

postseason bracket that will be released Sunday at the Southern Section

office.

There are a handful of other potential at-large contenders, but a

victory over Northwood (9-0, 4-0), ranked No. 3 in Division IX, would

likely validate the postseason credential of a CdM squad that has spent

the entire season in the Division IX top 10, including three weeks in the

No. 4 spot.

Defeating the Timberwolves, who have clinched at least a share of the

PCL crown in their second season of varsity competition, with their first

senior class, will be a no small task.

“We can’t afford to make any mistakes against these guys,” said CdM

Coach Dick Freeman, who has seen turnovers sabotage his squad in league

losses to University and Costa Mesa.

The Sea Kings have a minus-three turnover ratio coming in and are

coming off their first scoreless performance in 21 games.

And while regenerating the offense is a priority, defending a prolific

Northwood offense might prove more problematic for tonight’s visitors.

“They can do anything,” Freeman said of the Timberwolves’ offense,

which is averaging 34.5 points per game, third most in Orange County. In

league, Coach Rick Curtis’ squad is averaging nearly 40 points per game

and has outscored its first four PCL victims by an average of just more

than 32 points.

“You have to defend the whole field, because they spread you out and

use every inch of it,” said Freeman, also the Sea Kings’ defensive

coordinator. “You can’t say, ‘Let’s make the quarterback beat us,’

because he will. We’re going to have to get our guys ready for the pass

and bring them in when they run.”

Northwood is led by returning All-PCL quarterback Dan Tomcheck, a

6-foot-2, 195-pound senior. He has completed 98 of 164 passes (59.8%) for

1,428 yards and 16 touchdowns, with six interceptions.

Senior Andy Meyer keys the Northwood running game. He has rushed for

1,114 yards on 145 carries and he has scored a team-high 13 touchdowns.

Senior Dave Anderson is the leading receiver for the T-wolves, having

caught 35 passes for 478 yards and seven TDs.

The Sea Kings, who start nine seniors on offense but only two on

defense, have been led defensively by junior inside linebacker Matt

Cooper and junior defensive tackle Jayson Skalla.

Junior Kris Cooper, who has missed most of the league campaign with a

torn knee ligament, will start at outside linebacker in place of Keith

Long, who badly sprained an ankle last week.

Senior cornerback Steven Ward paces the secondary with four

interceptions.

Offensively, junior Mark Cianciulli carries the mail for the Sea

Kings. The 5-9, 165-pound tailback has 1,127 yards and eight touchdowns

on 177 carries. He has been even better in league, averaging just more

than 177 yards, including 200-plus efforts against University and Laguna

Beach.

CdM senior quarterback Dylan Hendy looks to bounce back from his worst

game of the season against Mesa, in which he threw his first interception

in six games. He needs just 9 passing yards to reach the 1,000-yard

plateau and comes in with 76 completions in 150 attempts, with eight

touchdowns and five interceptions.

Ward is Hendy’s favorite target. Ward’s Newport-Mesa-District-leading

28 receptions have produced 366 yards and five TDs.

CdM, attempting to extend its streak of making the CIF playoffs to

four straight years, won last year’s meeting, 37-7. The Sea Kings have

dropped four of their last five regular-season finales.