Corona del Mar unveils plaque honoring 2013 CIF State football championship team

Six days after the Corona del Mar High football team won its second CIF State title, a group gathered to honor the Sea Kings’ first state championship squad from 2013.

The timing was a bit of a coincidence, Wayne Redfearn said. Redfearn and two other parents from the 2013 team, Mike Collins and Ed St. Geme, have been working for years to put something on campus to honor that team.

Two key members of the 2013 squad, center and team captain Giovanni Gentosi and coach Scott Meyer, helped unveil a plaque Friday afternoon in the quad at CdM. They were part of a handful of parents and team members assembled to honor the team, which won the program’s third straight CIF Southern Section Southern Division title and was the first team in state history to go 16-0 after beating Sacred Heart Prep 27-15 in the CIF State Division III title game at Carson’s Dignity Health Sports Park, then known as StubHub Center.

The 2013 team was part of the program-record 30-game winning streak from 2012-14.

The plaque includes the unofficial CdM football slogan, “Chase the Ring,” and a list of all of the players and coaching staff. Many of the players who came to Friday’s ceremony were integral pieces of the team, like quarterback Luke Napolitano, receiver Bo St. Geme, tight end Braden Brahs and linemen Parker Chase and Justin Hess.

Giovanni Gentosi, in front on the right, and his 2013 Corona del Mar teammates admire a plaque honoring the football program’s first CIF State title.

(Scott Smeltzer / Staff Photographer)

Speakers included the 2013 Daily Pilot Dream Team Player of the Year in Gentosi, who went on to play for four years at UCLA and one year at Rice. Meyer, CdM athletic director Don Grable and principal Kathy Scott also spoke.

Scott was in her first year as principal in 2013-14.

“You definitely were the highlight of that year,” Scott told the players assembled. “It was a huge event. It’s pretty challenging to be a new principal and we went through a few bumps, but you winning that state championship is a great memory in my own career. That had never happened to me before ... I’m really proud of you guys for coming back to celebrate this moment.

“You set the bar high for our 2019 team. We actually got there, and we thought it would never happen again. You guys started it. Hopefully CdM’s on a new trajectory and tradition of winning the state championship, and we can owe it to you guys for being the first ones.”

Grable got a bit emotional while addressing the players, after going through a summary of the 2013 season.

“Hopefully when you grow up and start raising families, you will show some of the values that our football team tried to teach you,” Grable said. “Please don’t think that I don’t think that the wins are valuable ... but I think we’re all a little bit off when we focus on the ring. When you guys get a little bit older, you’ll realize that the chase was more important.”

Meyer, now the head football coach at Lakewood High, made sure to acknowledge the 2011 and 2012 teams, which won Southern Division titles but were not invited to the state playoffs.

“When I got here, our mission statement was to build a football program that would provide the best football experience around,” he said. “We established goals of bringing back the bell from across the bay, winning league and CIF championships and to win in the classroom. Based on what has happened on and off the field from that time until today, it’s clear that CdM is the best public high school football experience you can find anywhere.”

Gentosi wouldn’t argue with that sentiment.

“What they’ve accomplished in the years since we left is something that we can all kind of hang our hats on, knowing that we helped put CdM football on the map,” he said. “Congrats to the 2019 state champions, and I’m excited to see what the future holds for CdM football.”

Giovanni Gentosi, left, and Luke Napolitano high-five during the unveiling of a plaque commemorating the 2013 Corona del Mar football team winning the program’s first CIF State title.

(Scott Smeltzer / Staff Photographer)

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