Sea Kings prepare for aerial assault

Barry Faulkner

Corona del Mar High football coach Dick Freeman is hoping for an

extended jam session Saturday, when the Sea Kings visit pass-happy

Calvary Chapel in a 7 p.m. battle of Pacific Coast League unbeatens

at Westminster High.

Freeman’s plan has nothing to do with music, but rather the

ability of his secondary to bump and disrupt Eagle receivers, who

will try to blanket the field as part of Orange County’s preeminent

prep passing attack.

“I’ve never seen an offense like this,” Freeman, in his 26th

season of prep coaching, said of the aptly named Eagles, who have

amassed 82.5% of their 2,757 offensive yards through the air, almost

all of which coming from the right arm of 6-foot-4, 225-pound senior

quarterback Todd Mermer.

Mermer, whose performance the last two seasons has been enough to

send any defensive coordinator’s heart aflutter, has already broken

the school single-season record for passing yards he set last fall.

Mermer has completed 157 of 259 passes for 2,250 yards and 21

touchdowns, with eight interceptions this season. His two-year totals

include 321 completions in 558 attempts, 4,493 yards, 37 TDs and 18

interceptions. Mermer’s 507 passing yards in a PCL-opening 41-40 win

over Laguna Beach was the second-best single-game total in county

history. Only Bolsa Grande’s Doug Baughman (556 yards in a 1996 game

against La Quinta) threw for more yards in a single game.

“(Mermer) is like nine feet tall and he really zings the ball

downfield,” Freeman, the Sea Kings’ defensive coordinator, said. “He

hits guys who, by high school standards, aren’t open. We’ve seen guys

on tape who are covered, but he hits them anyway. You have to have

NFL coverage on their receivers, or be ready to knock the ball away.

He threw a ball against Laguna that was in the air so long, it had

stewardesses on it.”

Freeman believes the key to his pass defense will not occur at the

end of passing routes, but at the beginning.

“La Habra did a good job throwing the ball against us (267 yards

and three TDs). But, after the game, we pointed out to our kids that

if they bumped the receiver before he got into his route, he would

not be where the ball was going. If you jam the receiver effectively,

it doesn’t matter who the quarterback is, because if the receivers

aren’t where they’re supposed to be, it messes the whole thing up.”

Making matters more interesting, Calvary Chapel (4-3, 2-0 in

league) revved up its rushing game in last week’s 41-7 win over

Tesoro. The Eagles, who had just 315 rushing yards the first six

games, produced 202 yards on the ground against the Titans.

“They’ve had a different kid running the ball in the last two

weeks and they’ve done a decent job (on the ground),” Freeman said.

Junior Garrett Brietfuss had 111 rushing yards on 10 carries last

week, while Robby Perez leads the team with 281 rushing yards.

Freeman said he may shift his outside linebackers to end and move

his ends inside to the tackle spots, in hopes of improving his

defense’s quickness.

He said applying pressure on Mermer will be a must, but Mermer’s

almost exclusive alignment in the shotgun can make blitzes

problematic.

“I’m not sure if our regular front four can do it,” Freeman said

of his desired pass rush. “We’re going to have to send somebody else.

But when teams have sent linebackers, he has done a good job of

reading that and picking them apart.”

As potent as the Calvary offense has been, upping its per-game

average to nearly 28 points by scoring 82 points in two league wins,

the Eagles have been outscored this season, 237-195.

CdM’s 33 points against Laguna Beach last week were its

second-best single-game output of the season, just missing a 35-point

effort in the opener against Costa Mesa.

The Sea Kings (4-3, 2-0), ranked No. 6 in CIF Southern Section

Division IX, led, 13-0, in the first 43 seconds against the Breakers

and were up, 26-0, before 11 minutes had elapsed.

CdM’s offense has been paced by senior tailback Mark Cianciulli,

who has collected 847 rushing yards and nine TDs on 176 carries.

Cianciulli’s fifth 100-plus rushing performance of the season last

week enabled him to move into No. 2 on the school’s all-time rushing

list with 2,296 yards. He is still 893 yards from eclipsing CdM

career rushing leader J.R. Walz, who set the standard from 1991-93.

Senior quarterback Jonathan Hubbard has thrown for 552 yards and

five TDs this fall and is 8 of 10 for 172 yards and one TD, without

an interception, the last two games.

CdM’s leading receiver is sophomore Kevin Welch, who has 16

catches for 283 yards and four TDs.

A CdM win would create a probable league title showdown Nov. 8

against defending league champion Northwood (6-1, 2-0), which hosts

Laguna Beach Friday.

This is the first meeting between CdM and Calvary Chapel.