CdM falls behind Hawks

NEWPORT BEACH — Two weeks is how much time the Corona del Mar High football team had to prepare for a team that hasn’t lost in the Pacific Coast League since joining it four years ago.

How Laguna Hills has dominated league play, opponents might need an entire season to get ready for the Hawks.

The Sea Kings are the latest league team to lose to Laguna Hills, falling 27-0 at Newport Harbor High Thursday night.

Since 2006, defending champion Laguna Hills is 11-0-1 in league.

The Sea Kings entered the league opener for both schools ranked No. 3 and the Hawks were No. 6 in the CIF Southern Section Southern Division poll.

Expect Laguna Hills to move closer to the top spot and CdM to move down next week. The Hawks are on their way to defending their league and section crowns.

Pound for pound, the Hawks (4-2, 1-0 in league) showed one of last year’ semifinalists that they’re the favorites again. The Hawks pounded the Sea Kings (4-2, 0-1), controlling the clock and taking a 20-0 lead at halftime.

“They were just more physical than us,” CdM Coach Jason Hitchens said. “You can’t really say much more than that.”

The first 23 plays from scrimmage for Laguna Hills featured all runs. The team’s first pass attempt came with 8 minutes, 21 seconds left in the second quarter. On a third-and-three, the pass went to a running back for nine yards and a first down.

The rest of the way, Laguna Hills didn’t have to throw again. For some reason, they used four quarterbacks.

Each quarterback must have got tired of handing the ball off so much. Smash-mouth football proved to be too much for CdM to handle as it dropped its fourth straight game to the Hawks.

The Sea Kings had no one to offset Matt Martindale’s 137-yard, four-touchdown performance on 14 carries. Coupled that with running back J.D. Abbott out with an injured left ankle, CdM was hurting from the start.

In the opening quarter, the Sea Kings managed seven yards on offense in a little more than two minutes with the ball. The visitors totaled 144 yards and led, 14-0, after two Martindale touchdowns.

Hitchens expected CdM to face a heavy dose of runs.

“What we feared was they would do exactly what they did, they would just hold onto the ball and move it all the way down the field,” said Hitchens, who on the opening drive saw the Hawks march 80 yards in 13 plays and score midway through the first quarter. “As I was telling someone earlier in the day … ‘If you don’t need to throw the ball, why throw it?’

“I think they pose some matchup problems for most of us [in league], from a physical perspective. They’re big up front on both sides of the ball. For us, we’re not real big on the offensive line and we’re not real big on the defensive line.”

Size created problems for the Sea Kings.

At the end, Laguna Hills outgained CdM, 324-91, on the ground. The discrepancy might not have been as wide if Abbott were healthy enough to play.

The senior suited up, but he limped on the sideline. Hitchens knew during the bye last week CdM had to compete without its leading rusher. Hitchens said Abbott hurt his ankle after an interception return in the fourth quarter of the Sea Kings’ 27-0 victory against Magnolia on Oct. 2.

As for a timetable when Abbott will return, Hitchens gave none. Correcting the mistakes, the penalties nullifying big plays, are the priority.

The Sea Kings appeared on their way to possibly cutting the deficit late in the second quarter. Quarterback Michael Borchard hit Alex Swigert on a screen pass and the running back went 51 yards to Laguna Hills’ four. A block in the back negated the huge gain, bringing the ball back near midfield.

“Offensively, I thought we had our moments,” said Hitchens, whose team finished with 188 yards on offense and two turnovers. “I wouldn’t say that we couldn’t do anything.”

CdM didn’t do much to become the first team to beat Laguna Hills in league since 2006.

Laguna Hills 27, Corona del Mar 0

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Laguna Hills 13-7-7-0--27

Corona del Mar 0-0-0-0--0

FIRST QUARTER

LH – Martindale 3 run (kick blocked), 6:11.

LH – Martindale 15 run (Burke kick), 0:58.

SECOND QUARTER

LH – Martindale 47 run (Burke kick), 5:39.

THIRD QUARTER

LH – Martindale 1 run (Burke kick), 6:43. 

INDIVIDUAL RUSHING

LH – Mat. Martindale, 14-137, 4 TDs; Miranda, 13-72; Vorsheck, 9-49; Belman, 5-39; Bonutto, 2-12; Mar. Martindale, 1-8; Salera, 4-5; Camarce, 2-6; Tereschuk, 1-minus 4.

CdM – Swigert, 10-52; Gardner, 2-24; Condino, 2-19; Fisher, 2-2; Borchard, 6-minus 6.

INDIVIDUAL PASSING

LH – Belman, 1-1-0, 9.

CdM – Borchard, 6-14-2, 46; Gardner, 4-7-0, 51.

INDIVIDUAL RECEIVING

LH – Miranda, 1-9.

CdM – Napolitano, 1-30; Christian, 3-27; Tam, 3-25; Swigert, 3-15.