CdM bolts out, holds on

COSTA MESA — Quarterback Michael Borchard led a Corona del Mar High offense that had a burst of big plays and Alex Swigert paced a defense that made a procession of them to help the Sea Kings improve to 3-0 Thursday.

Borchard, a senior, ran for three touchdowns and passed for another in a 27-14 nonleague football triumph over visiting Troy at Orange Coast College.

Swigert, a senior inside linebacker who earned All-CIF Southern Section Southern Division laurels as a junior, keyed a swarming defense that forced nine punts, registered two turnovers and stuffed the Warriors’ late comeback attempt with a fourth-down sack with 20 seconds left.

Borchard, who had three rushing touchdowns in last week’s 65-34 win at Laguna Beach, had first-half scoring runs of three, 80, and one yard to help the hosts build a 20-0 halftime lead. Borchard has seven rushing touchdowns on the season, his first as a starter.

Borchard, who rushed for 87 yards and threw for 123 more, connected with Donald Dalton for a 44-yard catch-and-run that reached the end zone with 3:57 left in the third quarter. The score upped the Sea Kings’ lead to 27-7.

There was some late tension, however, as Troy (1-1) drove 86 yards on five plays to close to within 13 points with 4:28 left.

After a CdM punt on the ensuing possession, Dalton intercepted at his own 42-yard line with 2:24 left, but Troy recovered a Sea Kings’ fumble two plays later at the hosts’ 42-yard line.

Troy quarterback Kyle Smith scrambled 25 yards to the 17 on first down, but had to leave the game with a cramp in his left calf.

Without Smith, who led the visitors with 77 rushing yards on six attempts and threw for 59 yards despite being consistently flushed from the pocket by the CdM pass rush, the Warriors’ drive fizzled.

CdM senior John Christian provided closure by sacking backup Stephen Sauter for a nine-yard loss on fourth-and-five at the Sea Kings’ nine-yard line.

CdM, ranked No. 2 in the CIF Southern Division, knelt with the final snap to earn its second straight 3-0 start, only the third such opening in the last 17 seasons.

The CdM defense stopped 12 plays at or behind the line of scrimmage, including the aforementioned Christian sack and another combined sack by seniors Riley Conroy and Andrew Conger.

Dalton, a senior cornerback, broke up several passes in coverage, while Swigert, outside linebacker Alex Herrera, Christian, Conroy, Conger, James Roney and Jeff Condino helped dominate in the trenches.

End Aaron White, linebackers David Detrick and secondary stalwarts Justin Tam, Austin Jones and Cole Cottrell also helped the CdM defense assure the victory would not be lost.

Special teams, which has been a consistent area of strength in two seasons under Coach Jason Hitchens, had a couple hiccups Thursday.

Two low snaps caused two would-be conversion kicks to fail and a low punt snap turned into a 14-yard loss that set up Troy’s first touchdown drive, a five-play, 28-yard mini-march midway through the third quarter.

Christian did average 42.4 yards on five punts, but Troy managed to contain a CdM return game that had produced a pair of touchdowns (on kickoffs) this season.

Corona del Mar, which had four one-play touchdown “drives” in last season’s 49-20 win over Troy, had two more one-play possessions Thursday.

Corona del Mar 27, Troy 14

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Troy 0-0-7-7--14

CdM 6-14-7--27 

FIRST QUARTER

CdM – Borchard 3 run (run failed), 6:23.

SECOND QUARTER

CdM – Borchard 80 run (Jones pass from Borchard), 10:40.

CdM – Borchard 1 run (kick blocked), 4:11.

THIRD QUARTER

Troy – Austin 1 run (Yepez kick), 8:05.

CdM – Dalton 44 pass from Borchard (Boehm kick), 3:57.

FOURTH QUARTER

Troy – Lovett 29 pass from Smith (Yepez kick), 4:28. 

INDIVIDUAL RUSHING

Troy – Smith, 6-77; Austin, 17-50, 1 TD; Bonner, 10-43; Sauter, 1-minus-9.

CdM – Abbott, 18-94; Borchard, 11-87, 3 TDs; Swigert, 3-0; Gardner, 1-minus-16; Team, 2-minus-15. 

INDIVIDUAL PASSING

Troy – Smith, 5-22-1, 59, 1 TD; Sauter, 0-2-0.

CdM – Borchard, 8-19-1, 123, 1 TD; Gardner, 0-1-0. 

INDIVIDUAL RECEIVING

Troy – Carrillo, 2-28; Lovett, 1-29, 1 TD; Bonner, 2-2.

CdM – Dalton, 4-85, 1 TD; Tam, 1-17; Jones, 1-14; Abbott, 2-7.