Putting Harbor behind them

Patrick Laverty

There’s no time to contemplate last week’s loss to Newport Harbor

High for the Corona del Mar football team. The Sea Kings must move on

to their fourth nonleague game against Cypress, Friday at 7 p.m. at

Western High.

After an emotionally draining loss like last week’s, a letdown

would be understandable. The Sea Kings experienced such last season,

when they lost to Cypress, 14-12.

But Corona del Mar, ranked No. 10 in CIF Southern Section Division

IX, needs to bounce back quickly this year in order to be fully

prepared for what is shaping up to be a very difficult Pacific Coast

League.

The Sea Kings (2-1) have posted impressive victories over Costa

Mesa and Troy, which are both 2-1. But the combined record of the six

teams in the Pacific Coast League is 14-5-1 and no team has more than

one loss.

Cypress (1-2), which plays in the CIF Division VI Empire League,

could provide another stiff test.

But if Corona del Mar is able to forget about Newport Harbor, it

has a strong chance of adding to its win total.

The Sea Kings lineup will be bolstered by the return of sophomore

linebacker Shaun Mohler, who missed the Battle of the Bay because of

a concussion suffered against Troy. Mohler will not start, but will

play, CdM Coach Dick Freeman said.

CdM’s offense has already shown off a variety of weapons in the

first three weeks, led by junior receiver Kevin Welch, who has caught

three touchdown passes from his twin brother Tom. Running backs

Austin Brawner and Wess Presson lead the Sea Kings’ ground attack.

Despite the loss to Newport Harbor, Freeman is happy with the

progress of his team, which has just nine seniors.

“I think we are where we need to be,” Freeman said. “I think we

played with some great enthusiasm [against Newport Harbor]. The early

part of the game, we really moved the ball on them.”

The defense has played well too. It held Costa Mesa to 14 points,

its lowest output of the season. It did the same to Troy, which

scored just seven points against the Sea Kings.

Cypress is averaging just 9.6 points per game, while allowing

17.3. The Centurions are led by senior quarterback Eric Burroughs,

who has completed 29 of 62 passes for 322 yards with three touchdowns

and four interceptions. Their top running back is Michael Massey. He

has rushed for 241 yards on 47 carries.

“They throw the ball a lot,” Freeman said. “They run some option.

They’ve got good athletes and a big tight end, a real big tight end.”

The Sea Kings have a few good athletes of their own. The question

going into this game is whether those athletes will bounce back from

last week’s tough loss.