CdM fumbles title opportunity

Barry Faulkner

The muck and the mire was hardly to the liking of the Corona del

Mar High football team Friday night, but it was muscle and a

5-foot-7, 150-pound mighty mite that had more to do with visiting

Northwood’s 21-0 Pacific Coast League victory in a battle of league

unbeatens at Newport Harbor High.

The Timberwolves’ muscle in the trenches helped the defending

league champions control the line of scrimmage on both sides of the

ball. As for the mighty mite, sophomore running back Jeff Keller,

whose low center of gravity served him well amid the treacherous

footing created by rainy conditions, rushed for 208 yards, including

a 47-yard touchdown scamper late in the first quarter to lead the

T-wolves (8-1, 4-0) to at least a share of the league crown and the

league’s No. 1 playoff berth. Just as important as his yards, Keller

failed to cough up the football, a shortcoming that plagued the Sea

Kings.

CdM fumbled 11 times, losing five, and committed five of its six

turnovers in the first half. Five of the first six CdM possessions

ended on either a lost fumble or an interception and the hosts

averaged just three plays on its first 11 possessions, by which time,

Northwood had finalized the scoring.

CdM fumbled the ball away on the first play of its possession

twice, once on the second play and twice on the third play.

The Sea Kings most threatening possession -- eight plays, lasting

1:56 -- ended on downs after a first-and-goal at the 3 produced no

yards on four snaps, two of which were incomplete passes.

“At halftime, we told our guys we thought we could dominate up

front,” Northwood Coach Rick Curtis said. “Fortunately, we ran the

ball real well, because it was hard to throw the ball tonight.”

Curtis, who planned for Keller to spend this season on the junior

varsity (plans which changed when the starter went down with an

injury in the season-opening game), watched the diminutive standout

shuffle, cut and drive for 169 yards on 25 carries before halftime.

Keller’s performance put him over the 1,000-yard mark for the

season with 1,047.

The Sea Kings, who clinched a berth in the CIF Southern Section

Division IX Playoffs last week and can wrap up at least second place

with a victory Friday over last-place Tesoro, collected just 58 yards

on the ground, with senior tailback Mark Cianciulli coming off the

bench to get 60 yards on 14 carries.

Senior quarterback Jonathan Hubbard completed passes of 36 yards

to Matt Morris and Wess Presson, as well as a 23-yard hook-up with

Cianciulli. He also sprinted for 31 yards on a bootleg on CdM’s

second offensive play of the game. But they amounted to mere blips on

an otherwise abysmal offensive night for the Sea Kings.

CdM’s efforts were plagued by the loss of senior center Jason

Kidushim, who dislocated his left knee cap midway through the first

quarter. The injury forced the Sea Kings to shuffle in two other

centers, both of whom had difficulties with snaps. Two errant snaps

in shotgun formation forced Hubbard to fall on the ball for combined

losses of 30 yards.

“(Kidushim) is not only our center, but our leader,” CdM Coach

Dick Freeman said. “He gets guys to do stuff and he makes our

blocking calls.”

Freeman, however, refused to use turnovers as an excuse.

“They just beat us on both sides of the ball,” he said.

The Sea Kings still hold hopes of gaining a share of the league

crown, but would need Northwood to lose to Calvary Chapel in the

league finale Thursday night. If CdM wins and Northwood loses, they

share the title, though Northwood would be the league’s No. 1 playoff

representative.