DAILY PILOT HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL PLAYER OF THE WEEK:
The clip hasn’t made it on YouTube.com.
“Not yet,” said J.D. Abbott, Corona del Mar High’s running back.
On his sixth carry in the Sea Kings’ season opener last week, Abbott delivered a message to the rest of the backfield.
This job is his now. No more sharing the load like last year.
Abbott broke off a 75-yard run, running over a couple of defenders along the way to finding the end zone.
One of the first people to greet the junior was Will Ham.
“I was pretty excited,” said Ham, a senior left tackle. “I was jumping up and down.”
Everyone was elated as Abbott showed how far he’s come in one year.
No longer can you catch him from behind in the open field.
Costa Mesa couldn’t on that run. And the rest of that Friday night as Abbott rushed for a career-best 205 yards and three touchdowns on 13 carries to lead CdM to a 55-3 victory at Newport Harbor High.
Only once did the 6-foot-2, 190-pound Abbott touch the ball in the second half. That run went for a 20-yard score, ending his night 15 seconds into the third quarter with the Sea Kings up by 38 points.
“I’d love to keep playing, but when you’re up by that much, as long as we get the win, I’ll be happy,” Abbott said. “[Coach Jason Hitchens] said just let the other guys get a chance to run the ball.”
Abbott’s backups racked up the yards, yards that might have propelled Abbott into the CdM record book.
Two milestones were reachable by the time Abbott scored his third touchdown. The school’s single-game rushing record is 296 yards and the single-game touchdown record is five, set by Blake Hacker in 2000 and Tom O’Meara in 1995, respectively.
Junior running backs Alex Swigert and Blake Burkhart totaled 93 yards and two touchdowns on a dozen carries. The way the offensive line blew the Mustangs off the ball, Abbott had a shot at surpassing Hacker’s mark and tying O’Meara’s.
When Hacker ran for 296 yards, he carried it 40 times.
The decision to pull Abbott was easy for Hitchens. With him, sportsmanship means more than records.
But don’t count out Abbott tonight at 7 when the Sea Kings play a nonleague game against Laguna Beach (0-1) at Newport Harbor High. He might have a record-breaking night in him.
The Sea Kings have stomped on the Breakers in each of the past nine seasons, winning by an average of more than three touchdowns per game.
“I always have high expectations for J.D.,” said Hitchens, who’s in his first year at CdM. “I would hope that he would look to build on last week’s performance.”
Ben Noe, the senior right tackle, is expecting more big games out of Abbott. The line plans to do whatever it takes because more outings like last week will result in steaks.
But there was more at stake last week than a steak at Morton’s The Steakhouse.
Don’t get Noe wrong. He said the rest of the line, which also includes left guard Dutch Lamons, center Brad Dupuie, right guard Dan DiChiro and backups Riley Conroy and Grant Keligian, would appreciate Abbott’s invitation.
Against Costa Mesa, the linemen had a chip on their shoulder. They paved the way so CdM could outgain Costa Mesa by 277 yards on the ground.
DAVID CARRILLO PEÑALOZA may be reached at (714) 966-4612 or at david.carrillo@latimes.com.
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