Sea Kings gather momentum from shootout

Dick Freeman didn’t know where his Corona del Mar High football team would play in the quarterfinals this week, but win or lose, there’s one thing the coach did know.

After outlasting Estancia, 44-40, in the CIF Southern Section Southern Division’s first round Friday, he’s convinced that this group of Sea Kings is special. He said he has always known that, but his belief became more evident at Newport Harbor High, where CdM held off the Eagles in the fog.

The shootout that featured the two Newport-Mesa District schools was a great game, and might even be deemed a classic, Freeman said, but there are some parts the CdM coach would rather forget.

“The fact that I’m a defensive coach [that game] is not memorable,” Freeman said. “But it was nice that we kept scoring. We were moving the ball.”

Now the Sea Kings (7-4) will take on Cypress (9-2) in a quarterfinal. The game is scheduled for Friday at 7:30 p.m. at Western High, according to latimes.com. Freeman didn’t know Sunday evening because Cypress coach Ray Fenton told him Saturday that nothing had been decided about a time and site. Kennedy and Anaheim also have home games and with only two stadiums in the area, Kennedy will have to play on Saturday.

“He just outran everyone on that kickoff,” Freeman said. “We were wondering whether we would play him at all that night. His ankle was not healing. The soreness wouldn’t stop and the swelling would not go down. He got taped and re-taped three or four times.”

Freeman also said the Sea Kings’ offensive line, including tight end Ali Meshkin, turned in its best performance of the season. Seniors John Joyce, Arion Lapuz and Steven Dean, as well as juniors James McKinnon and Max Prescott earned a grade over 90% for their run blocking and pass protection, Freeman said.

In other news for CdM, Erik Rask, a junior linebacker who was the Sea Kings’ leading tackler, had surgery to replace his anterior cruciate ligament Nov. 10. He will not be able to play basketball, but he is expected back for the football season in 2007.

“Our kids really stepped up,” Barnes said. “I don’t think anyone was expecting that sort of game. I think Corona del Mar was expecting to just roll over us, but I think they realized that it was a battle.”

Barnes was excited to point out that the Eagles scored the most points against CdM this season.

“[The Eagles] played as hard as they could every down,” Barnes said. “It’s tough to say [that was our best game of the season] when you lose, but it was probably our most complete game. They left everything out on the field. That’s probably something we hadn’t seen from everyone the whole season. I could almost taste the victory.”

Instead, Barnes will prepare for next season. He had an end-of-the-season barbeque lunch on Sunday and reminded his players of the great season they had. They were 2-9 the season before. But finished 7-4 this year. Also, senior receiver Matt Redding shared the Orange Coast League’s Offensive Player of the Year award with Laguna Beach’s Charley Bowman. Tim Morley, Estancia’s senior linebacker, was named the defensive MVP, Barnes said.

During the offseason, Barnes wants to be aggressive in enforcing his weight-training program. The second-year coach plans to return next season.

The Lightning ended their season at 6-5 and came away with plenty of positives in a season in which they finished second in the Academy League, Monarch said.

“It was a gutsy team that never accepted an easy defeat,” Monarch said. “Unfortunately, we didn’t come out of the chute with the energy needed to beat teams. Second-half wise we played as good to beat any team. But football is for four quarters.”

Monarch, who also works as a Newport Beach detective, said he plans to return to the team next year. After the holiday season, he discusses the future with his wife.

“It’s always fun and challenging,” Monarch said of being a detective. “Just like high school football.”