Prep football Bravehearts: CdM offensive line

Barry Faulkner

The Corona del Mar High football team may have finished in the

Pacific Coast League’s second division, but the Sea Kings’ offensive line

made sure junior tailback Mark Cianciulli could claim the top spot among

league rushers.

Operating behind tackles, Steven Russell and Steve Shipman, guards

Brad Sperber and John Daley, as well as center Matt Elliston, Cianciulli

finished the regular season with 1,290 rushing yards (869 against five

league foes), to edge highly touted league rivals Andy Meyer from

Northwood (1,267), Scott Pickett from University (1,234) and Donelle

Darling from Laguna Beach (1,186).

Cianciulli’s emergence as a prolific runner was among the highlights

this fall for the Sea Kings. It obviously would not have been possible

without the front wall, which developed behind the veteran leadership of

the 6-foot-3, 265-pound Russell.

A second-team All-PCL choice last fall, Russell added around 30 pounds

with offseason weight training and was a force this season, according to

CdM Coach Dick Freeman.

“He dominated everybody he went up against,” Freeman said. “I think he

showed he can play somewhere in college. He could play right now at a

Division I-AA school and if he goes to junior college, he should be able

to go to a Division I-A school.”

Daley (6-1, 215), was also second-team all-league last year as a

sophomore. His return from a broken wrist that sidelined him about a

month was another key in the team’s productivity on the ground.

Seniors Elliston (5-10, 215) and Sperber (5-9, 195) took advantage of

openings created by injuries and graduation and worked hard to improve as

the season progressed.

Shipman, a second-team all-league defensive lineman as a junior in

2000, distinguished himself with consistent double duty on both sides of

the trenches. Freeman said the 6-3, 220-pounder may also have a

collegiate future.

Freeman said assistant coach Miguel Romo deserves much of the credit

for the unit’s development, particularly its ability to mesh as a

fivesome.

“Romo does a real good job of creating a unit-type atmosphere,”

Freeman said.

Additional credit for the CdM ground game should go to junior guard

John Hayes, who filled in admirably when Daley went down, as well as

junior fullback Matt Cooper, a battering ram of a lead blocker, who packs

a 215-pound punch.