Sea Kings mow down Tesoro
Barry Faulkner
The Corona del Mar High football team built at least some
offensive momentum while clinching sole possession of second place in
the Pacific Coast League with a 48-28 win over visiting Tesoro Friday
at Newport Harbor High.
But the Sea Kings (6-4, 4-1 in league) may have built a future
enemy in the Titans (1-9, 0-5) and Coach Jim O’Connell, whose team
scored 34% of its points for the season in its most effective
offensive performance of the season.
Offensive efficiency, however, was best exemplified by the hosts,
who used just 34 offensive plays (not counting punts) to roll up
their second-highest point total of the season. After trouncing
Calvary Chapel, 50-8, in a Nov. 2 league game, CdM took a step
backward last week, falling to league champion Northwood, 21-0,
committing six turnovers.
But Friday, the Sea Kings had just one turnover, cashed in both
Tesoro turnovers for touchdowns, had a pair of one-play touchdown
“drives,” two others of two plays and others of five, six and seven
plays.
CdM’s offensive explosiveness helped overcome a listless start
against a determined Titan outfit.
“We came out flat, which was to be expected,” CdM Coach Dick
Freeman said. “We needed to get going and, eventually, we started
moving the ball. I was happy we got some things going.”
CdM senior tailback Mark Cianciulli got it going late in the first
quarter, after a 13-play Tesoro drive ended on a bad snap on what
would have been a 26-yard field-goal attempt.
On the next snap, Cianciulli darted 67 yards off left tackle for a
touchdown. David Del Fante added the first of his six conversion
kicks to give the hosts a 7-0 lead with 2:36 left in the opening
period.
Tesoro, which came in tied with Estancia for the fewest points in
Orange County this season (54), pulled even with a 10-play, 65-yard scoring drive capped by quarterback Nick Nelson’s 1-yard sneak.
CdM fumbled the ball away three plays into the ensuing possession,
but the Sea Kings’ defense forced a punt and the Sea Kings turned
their next six possessions into touchdowns.
Cianciulli had four TDs, en route to 207 rushing yards on just 13
carries (nearly a 16-yard average).
Senior tailback Keith Long added a 1-yard TD run and sophomore Tom
Welch bounced 25 yards around the right side for another rushing TD
to help the CdM ground game produce 327 yards.
Senior quarterback Jonathan Hubbard and sophomore receiver Kevin
Welch made the most of their limited passing opportunities. Welch
caught two Hubbard bombs for 98 yards, the first a 34-yard post
pattern that made it 14-7 with 8:29 left before halftime and the
second a 64-yard sideline streak on the opening play of the second
half. The latter connection set up a 4-yard Cianciulli TD run and
irked O’Connell and his staff, who deemed the long pass unnecessary
for a team up, 28-7, against a team with no seniors and very few
contributing juniors.
“I just don’t sense a lot of class over there,” O’Connell, still
visibly upset, said after the game.
“Their coach refused to shake my hand,” Freeman said.
O’Connell’s dismay appeared to fire up his players, who pounded
the CdM reserves for 21 fourth-quarter points, including a 12-yard
scoring pass from Nelson to Chase Jacobs with 13 seconds left.
“It’s been a long season, but we’ve known this one was going to be
about the process of building a program,” O’Connell said. “We wanted
our kids to come off the field after their last game with a positive
feeling and I thought we did that. This was, by far, our best
offensive game.”
CdM outside linebacker Kris Cooper returned an interception 33
yards to set up a late first-half score, after forcing a fumble that
teammate K.C. Rawlins recovered to set up another TD.
Tesoro sophomore Evan Handa had 147 rushing yards and two TDs, and
Nelson finished with 216 passing yards to help the Titans post 384
yards total offense. Nelson completed 21 of 35 to nine different
receivers.
The Sea Kings will learn Sunday whether they get a home game for
the first round of the playoffs. Costa Mesa has a home game and if
Newport Harbor is also at home, both hold priority over CdM to play
at Orange Coast College and Newport Harbor.
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