Sea Kings hold off Troy

Barry Faulkner

The Corona del Mar High football team produced 362 yards of offense,

30 points, 15 first downs and a nine-point lead in the first half of

Friday night’s nonleague game against Troy at Fullerton High.

But it was that last part that had Sea Kings Coach Dick Freeman

more than a little concerned. There is, you see, a ghost of Troy

games past that still awakens Freeman from occasional deep sleep,

especially the memory of the 2001 clash with the Warriors, in which

Troy scored 21 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to claim a

34-34 tie.

But, alas, the Sea Kings utilized some strong defense and special

teams play to make its prolific offense stand up for a 44-28 win. The

victory not only improved the visitors to 3-0, it validated for many

the team’s No. 6 ranking in CIF Southern Section Division IX, two

spots ahead of the highly-regarded Warriors.

“When we play these guys, it’s usually the team that wins the

second half that comes out on top, not the first half,” Freeman said

after his team scored twice in the final 3:29 to clinch the victory.

“And the start of the second half was getting a little scary, when we

couldn’t put any points on the board.”

The first half featured explosive play from both teams, as the two

schools combined for 557 yards of total offense and 51 points, 807

net yards counting kickoff and fumble returns.

The Sea Kings scored on their first two possessions to take early

control, displaying the type of quick-strike capability that typified

their scoring sequences.

CdM senior quarterback Tom Welch burst 50 yards on a sneak on the

third play of the game to get the visitors rolling. Andrew Hummel

added the first of his five conversion kicks and it was 7-0 with

10:34 left in the first period.

After linebacker Shawn Mahler recovered a Troy fumble on

fourth-and-14 at the CdM 29-yard line on the ensuing possession, CdM

needed just two plays to revisit paydirt. Senior tailback Wess

Presson did the honors on a 57-yard scoring run with 6:55 left in the

first quarter.

Troy, however, showed why it has gained so much respect from

Freeman and his staff, by answering quickly.

Tyler Ray sprinted 93 yards with the ensuing kickoff to pull the

hosts wthin 14-7 and the first-half track meet was officially on.

Hummel capped an eight-play CdM procession with a line-drive

45-yard field goal to give the Sea Kings a 17-7 lead with 9:41 left

before halftime. The three-pointer began a series of five straight

scoring possessions, as the two teams took turns wowing the 2,200 in

attendance.

Troy went 80 yards on five plays to answer Hummel’s field goal,

but CdM marched 76 yards on seven plays to up its lead to 23-14 with

5:07 left in the second quarter.

Troy went 80 yards on five plays for another TD, but after Shane

Collins returned the ensuing kickoff 54 yards to the Warriors’

32-yard line, the Sea Kings needed just four plays to score a TD of

their own. Austin Brawner capped the mini-march with a 1-yard TD, but

CdM appeared unwilling to call off its offensive dogs just yet.

After forcing a Troy punt that rolled dead at the Troy 45-yard

line with 49 seconds left in the half, CdM put a scare into Troy when

Kevin Welch made a leaping one-handed catch for a 32-yard gain to the

Troy 1 with 16 seconds remaining.

But CdM, after calling its final timeout, was stuffed on its

subsequent inside running play and did not get another play off.

“That was frustrating,” Freeman said.

Troy drove 63 yards on 10 plays with the second-half kickoff to

pull within 30-28 with 8:04 left in the third quarter, but both

defenses began stepping up, keeping their opponents out of the end

zone until the clock ticked down to the final minutes.

After stopping Troy for a third straight possession, CdM junior

Matt Burgner blocked a Warrior punt that rolled out of bounds at the

Troy 9 yard-line.

Two plays later, Presson, who amassed 231 rushing yards on 26

carries, scored his third TD of the game, on an 8-yard run, to give

the visitors some breathing room.

After Troy (1-1) was stopped on four plays following the kickoff,

Tom Welch hit Kevin Welch for a 37-yard scoring pass on first down to

ice it with 2:24 left in the game.

Mohler picked off an pass to allow CdM to run out the clock and

the Sea Kings celebrated their most impressive win of the season.

Freeman, however, while happy with the win, wasn’t ready to start

extolling his squad’s virtues with seven regular-season games

remaining.

“We still haven’t played great football,” Freeman said. “We still

need to put two halves together and we need to stop teams from making

big plays. We have teams in our league like Northwood, who must be

drooling when they see the way our secondary wasn’t there on some

pass plays tonight. To have that much offense [480 yards] and still

have the game go down to the final minutes ... something is wrong

there.”

CdM had five scoring “drives” of four plays or less and averaged

just more than three plays on its six possessions that ended in

touchdowns.

Tom Welch rushed for 81 yards and passed for another 115, while

Kevin Welch finished with 85 yards on three receptions.

Troy quarterback Evan Webber threw for 266 yards, including six

connections with Zachary Myers for 179 yards.