Sea Kings falter

Barry Faulkner

NEWPORT BEACH -- Just three weeks after an impressive

season-opening victory prompted the Corona del Mar High football team

to dream of playing 14 weeks, the Sea Kings were knocked back to

square one Friday night by visiting Cypress.

The Centurions cashed in some hospitality by the hosts -- three

turnovers and countless other mistakes -- and scored with 1:37 left

to claim a 14-12 nonleague victory that may either prove to be a

turning point, or the beginning of the end for a CdM squad that came

in ranked No. 5 in CIF Southern Section Division IX.

Costly penalties, general disorganization and shabby execution all

contributed to the loss, which CdM Coach Dick Freeman said his team

gift rapped.

“We did everything we could to give this one away,” said Freeman,

whose faraway postgame look seemed to portray equal parts dismay and

disappointment.

“There’s no way,” Freeman bristled. “(The Centurions) should have

had zero points! We played pretty good defense most of the time, but

we were on the field most of the time. We fumbled the ball ... I

don’t know what it is, but our offense has got to quit making those

kinds of mistakes.”

Despite the miscues, the Sea Kings (2-2) were mere moments away

from victory, thanks to a determined defense, a 45-yard fourth-down

Jonathan Hubbard to Kevin Welch scoring bomb near the end of the

first half, and an efficient, eight-play scoring drive that covered

66 yards on CdM’s first second-half possession.

Senior tailback Mark Cianciulli capped the go-ahead touchdown

drive with a 13-yard run right through the middle of the Cypress

defense with 5:22 left in the third quarter. Cianciulli, who finished

with 231 all-purpose yards, including 111 on 25 rushing attempts,

carried seven times for 34 yards on the march, which included a

22-yard pass from Hubbard to Tyler Lance and a defensive holding

penalty that extended the drive after an apparent incompletion on

third down.

CdM, having had its first conversion kick blocked, elected to go

for two points to create a seven-point lead. Welch appeared to

wrestle the ball away from defender Charles Dobbs in the back corner

of the end zone, but officials ruled he did not have possession and

CdM’s defense was charged with protecting the 12-7 cushion.

The Sea Kings’ defense, despite playing without standout inside

linebacker Matt Cooper (ankle sprain) and safety K.C. Rawlins (groin

pull), among 10 Sea Kings who watched in street clothes, as well as

outside linebacker Keith Long, who left the game in the first quarter

with what appeared to be a back bruise, almost turned Cypress (3-1)

away ... again.

Led by senior tackle Jayson Skalla, linebackers Matt Warsaw, Lance

and Kris Cooper, CdM stopped successive Cypress possessions, the

first on downs at the CdM 26 and the second when a 33-yard field goal

try misfired with 6:53 left in the game.

CdM’s offense, however, sputtered on the ensuing possession and

Cypress took over after a punt on its own 46.

Penalties, yet another shortcoming for the hosts, proved costly on

the game-winning drive as a face-masking call gave Cypress one first

down and a pass interference call on third-and-11 moved it to the CdM

16.

Nick Mahin, a 6-foot-2, 210-pound battering ram, plowed for 2

yards to the 5 on third-and-one, then churned across the goal line on

the next snap. Anton Jamir kicked the conversion to make it 14-12

with 1:37 left, but CdM had two final possessions to try to rally.

But the first ended on an interception and the second ended when a

desperation bomb fell incomplete well shy of the end zone.

Cypress had two would-be touchdowns called back, the first of

which came early in a drive that ended in a CdM goal-line stand

midway through the second quarter. But, two plays after a missed

21-yard field goal, CdM fumbled the ball away on its own 18 and Nahin

scored three plays later for a 7-0 lead.