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.
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