Garbers throws for six

Parking was at a premium for Corona del Mar High’s homecoming football game at Jim Scott Stadium on Thursday. It was back-to-school night at Estancia, where the Sea Kings are playing their home contests this year.

While finding a parking spot was difficult for CdM’s fans, once they made it to their seats, their team was on its way to another win in Pacific Coast League action. The CdM faithful also saw Chase Garbers turn in a record-breaking performance.

The junior quarterback threw six touchdowns, setting a CdM single-game record for touchdown passes, in a 52-20 rout of Beckman. The Sea Kings extended their winning streak in league to 17 games.

The one team that might present a problem to CdM’s winning ways in league is University. The programs meet next week at University, which can start 7-0 for the first time in eight years with a win against Northwood on Friday.

The last Pacific Coast League team to go undefeated throughout an entire season was CdM two years ago.

The Sea Kings (5-2, 2-0 in league) have also gone perfect in league since 2012, and how Garbers is performing, they’re bound to finish 5-0 in league for the fourth year in a row.

Garbers completed 25 of 30 passes for 324 yards, all of those numbers he produced in the first three quarters. Coach Dan O’Shea didn’t let Garbers throw after his 14-yard touchdown to wide receiver Taeveon Le with 2:50 left in the third quarter left Garbers all alone in the No. 1 spot in CdM’s record book.

Earlier in the year at Dana Hills, Garbers’ five touchdown passes tied the CdM single-game record that two others, Dave Terry and Brent Lawson, achieved in 1968 and 2011, respectively. Garbers only played the first half during the Sea Kings’ 52-14 thrashing of Dana Hills on Sept. 4. He was happy that O’Shea kept him in the second half against Beckman (2-5, 0-2).

“It’s always a good thing to play,” Garbers said with a smile. “There’s nothing wrong with that.

“They weren’t very sound in their coverages most of the time, so we saw that opportunity [to pass] and we just took it.”

Garbers and the offense had to wait almost five minutes for its first chance at Beckman.

The game’s opening drive started well for Beckman, moving 40 yards in seven plays. Once at CdM’s 40-yard line, the offense couldn’t get one yard to move the chains. The Patriots ran two straight plays, both stopped at the line of scrimmage. Safety Sutty Barbato made the tackle on fourth-and-one and CdM took over on downs.

Every play worked for CdM on its first possession, except for a run. Garbers completed each of his five passes, and the biggest gain was a 21-yarder to receiver Reece Perez, who finished with nine catches for 71 yards.

After Beckman stuffed a run for a one-yard loss, Garbers passed twice more. The second pass went for a 13-yard touchdown to receiver Peter Bush.

Bush, who finished with nine receptions for 121 yards, turned out to be Garbers’ favorite target in the first half. The two hooked up for two more touchdowns, an 11-yarder late in the first quarter and a nine-yarder early in the second quarter.

After Bush’s third touchdown, CdM went for an onside kick and its kicker, Jason Neiger, recovered the ball on the opponent’s 49. It didn’t take long for Garbers to strike again.

Garbers found Jack Blower for a pass, and the receiver broke a couple of tackles before racing in for a 49-yard touchdown. The Sea Kings took a 28-10 lead with 9:50 left in the first half.

Almost 2½ minutes later, Beckman would find the end zone. Tailback Jake Groves, who rushed 17 times for 143 yards, matched his jersey number with a 28-yard touchdown run up the middle.

At this point, with 6½ minutes left before halftime, CdM had only run the ball six times for 42 yards. There wasn’t a reason to stop airing it out.

Garbers was on fire, completing his first 10 passes for 121 yards and two touchdowns. His first incompletion was a dropped pass 41 seconds into the second quarter. The Sea Kings did begin to run the ball after their shutout bid ended.

Running back Jaydin Moses, who finished with 100 yards on nine carries, ran the ball three times during CdM’s fifth scoring drive in the first half. The longest run, a 17-yarder to the left, resulted in a touchdown, helping put CdM ahead, 35-7, with 3:48 to go before halftime.

The Sea Kings appeared on their way to scoring again a couple of minutes later. Garbers hit Le for a 14-yard pass, but Le fumbled at the one and Beckman recovered in the end zone for a touchback.

Garbers missed tying CdM’s single-game record for touchdown passes in the first half for the second time this season. But three minutes into the second half, he wound up throwing his fifth touchdown, a 13-yarder to Blower, who finished with three catches for 77 yards and two touchdowns.

The sixth touchdown by Garbers went to Le, who more than made up for his gaffe at the end of the first half.

“He tried to stretch over the goal line and someone knocked it out unfortunately,” said Garbers, who was 36 yards short of surpassing the school’s single-game passing record that Mike McClellan set in 1996. “But he gave his best effort and that’s all that matters.”

The Sea Kings are going to need an all-around strong effort next week, if they plan to stay in first place in league.

“[University] is really, really good,” O’Shea said. “They are just so complicated with their [single-wing] formations. [They run misdirection] stuff and they have 18 formations, so if we can just line up right, I’ll be happy.”

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Corona del Mar 52, Beckman 20

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Beckman 0 – 7 – 6 – 7 — 20

CdM 14 – 21 – 14 – 3 — 52

FIRST QUARTER

CdM – Bush 13 pass from Garbers (Neiger kick), 5:45.

CdM – Bush 11 pass from Garbers (Neiger kick), 3:11.

SECOND QUARTER

CdM – Bush 9 pass from Garbers (Neiger kick), 10:04.

CdM – Blower 49 pass from Garbers (Neiger kick), 9:50.

B – Groves 28 run (Molina kick), 6:31.

CdM – Moses 17 run (Neiger kick), 3:48.

THIRD QUARTER

CdM – Blower 13 pass from Garbers (Neiger kick), 9:18.

B – Nagle 5 run (kick blocked), 5:29.

CdM – Le 14 pass from Garbers (Neiger kick), 2:50.

FOURTH QUARTER

B – Urick pass from Nagle (Molina kick), 10:25.

CdM – Neiger 36 FG, 4:07.

INDIVIDUAL RUSHING

B – Groves, 17-143, 1 TD.

CdM – Moses, 9-100, 1 TD.

INDIVIDUAL PASSING

B – Nagle, 19-25-0, 153, 1 TD.

CdM – Garbers, 25-30-0, 324, 6 TDs.

INDIVIDUAL RECEIVING

B – Goods, 7-60.

CdM – Bush, 9-121, 3 TDs; Blower, 3-77, 2 TDs; Perez, 9-71; Le, 3-49, 1 TD; Shaw, 1-6.