Friday Night Lights: CIF Playoffs unfold

Barry Faulkner

Corona del Mar High Coach Dick Freeman hopes his team has an

attitude, not an agenda, when the Sea Kings visit Pacifica Friday at

7 p.m. in the first round of the CIF Southern Section Division IX

football playoffs at Bolsa Grande High.

“The playoffs ends up being about attitude,” said Freeman, who

admits his last three playoff teams have largely gone through the

postseason motions, en route to first-round losses in 2000, 1999 and

‘98.

“We’ve had some teams here that didn’t want to go to the playoffs.

But I think this team will be ready.”

The Sea Kings (6-4), won four of their last five games, after

going 2-3 in a five-game preleague schedule that featured four

playoff teams, including La Habra (9-1), the No. 1 seed in Division

IX. CdM finished second to Northwood in the Pacific Coast League race

and is making the school’s 17th appearance in the CIF playoffs.

Pacifica (8-2), finished second to Los Amigos in the Garden Grove

League. It’s the eighth straight postseason appearance for the

Mariners, coached for the 27th year by Bill Craven, who has amassed

202 wins at the school, including six straight.

CdM is 3-3 against playoff teams this fall, while Pacifica is 1-2

against teams still playing.

The Mariners feature more offensive balance than the Sea Kings.

The Pacifica ground game is keyed by 5-foot-11, 175-pound senior David Heller, who has rushed for 1,600 yards and 20 touchdowns on 220

carries this season. Heller has eight games of at least 100 yards and

three of at least 200, including a season-high 277 against Bolsa

Grande.

Senior quarterback Justin Thompson has thrown for 1,533 yards and

five TDs, completing 96 of 152 with five interceptions. He has had

three 200-yard-plus passing games this fall, including a high of 276

against La Quinta.

Pacifica’s leading receiver is junior Steve Heller, who has 30

catches for 543 yards and two TDs. He has at least one reception in

nine games this season.

The Mariners average 391 yards per game and have scored 332 points

this season.

“You can’t try to shut down just the run or the pass, because they

can do both,” said Freeman, also the Sea Kings’ defensive

coordinator.

CdM has produced nearly 63% of its 2,710 yards on the ground.

Senior tailback Mark Cianciulli has rushed for 1,118 yards and 13 TDs

on 204 carries, upping his career totals to 2,567 yards and 27 TDs,

both ranking No. 2 on the school’s career list. He needs just two TDs

to tie J.R. Walz’s career record of 29, but is more than 600 yards

away from Walz’s rushing yardage mark of 3,189.

Senior Jonathan Hubbard has thrown for 954 yards and seven TDs,

completing 56 of 106 with four interceptions. He was 24 of 41 for 604

yards, three TDs and just one interception in five league games.

Sophomore Kevin Welch (26 catches for 596 yards and six TDs) has

been Hubbard’s leading target.

Freeman said he anticipates an aggressive defensive scheme from

the Mariners, who will likely join the scores of teams that have

crowded the line of scrimmage against the Sea Kings. “We haven’t seen

anything but that,” Freeman said of teams packing the box with eight

and nine defenders.

CdM and Pacifica joined Villa Park in a preseason scrimmage Sept.

6, but Freeman believes that experience will not factor into Friday’s

clash.

It’s CdM’s fifth meeting with Pacifica and the Sea Kings have won

the previous four, including playoff victories in 1989 (first round)

and 1988 (semifinals).