Football: Sea Kings stopped

MISSION VIEJO — Kevin Hettig and Dan O’Shea coach at Corona del Mar High and teach at Trabuco Hills. The two found themselves at both campuses on Friday, at Trabuco Hills to teach social studies and then at CdM to go over the football game plan.

Hettig and O’Shea, the offensive and defensive coordinators at CdM, returned to Trabuco Hills in the evening to go up against the school that employees them. They were unable to dial up the right plays to defeat Trabuco Hills in the quarterfinals of the CIF Southern Section Southwest Division playoffs.

The Mustangs upset top-seeded CdM, 28-10, handing the Sea Kings their first postseason setback in four years. The Sea Kings’ run at a fourth straight section title ended because the Sea Kings were unable to do much offensively or stop the Mustangs’ ground attack.

The Southwest Division proved to be too much for CdM (10-2), which moved up playoff divisions this year after it claimed the past three Southern Division titles. Hettig and O’Shea have played big parts in CdM’s success since 2011, when they joined Coach Scott Meyer’s staff.

Winning in the playoffs is all Meyer, Hettig and O’Shea have known since they arrived at CdM. Trabuco Hills became the first team in the postseason to beat a CdM team coached by Meyer, Hettig and O’Shea.

The Mustangs pulled it off because of quarterback Jimmy Jacobs and running back Chad Crosbie. The two led the way for the Mustangs (8-4), who move on to the semifinals to host Buena Park (11-1) next week. Jacobs rushed for two touchdowns and threw for a touchdown, while Crosbie rushed 25 times for 135 yards and a touchdown.

“It’s been a heck of a run,” said Meyer, who saw CdM’s 15-game playoff winning streak snapped. “I’m super proud of the guys. We’ve won an awful lot of games. They battled and they’ve always been a joy to coach.

“We just never really got it going. They did a great job on defense.”

The Sea Kings’ offense produced its least amount of points in a game under Meyer. Three points is all CdM put up, coming on Jason Neiger’s 36-yard field goal in the third quarter. The other CdM score came on cornerback Brett Greenlee’s 43-yard pick-six in the opening quarter.

Sloppy is the best way to describe CdM in the first quarter, and for much of the game. The Sea Kings finished with 25 rushing yards on 23 carries. The team couldn’t run the ball.

On CdM’s first drive, the offense turned the ball over, fumbling inside Trabuco Hills’ 20-yard line. Then on CdM’s next offensive opportunity, the center snapped the ball over quarterback Chase Garbers’ head on first down, and Garbers fell on the ball 15 yards behind the line of scrimmage.

While CdM’s offense mustered zero, it relied on its defense. The unit came through again, recording a defensive touchdown in the postseason.

The same senior who took an interception to the house in the first round against Tustin produced a pick-six in the next round against Trabuco Hills. Greenlee jumped a pass on the left side, near Trabuco Hills’ sideline, and he returned it for a score. The senior helped CdM take a 7-0 lead with 3:33 to go in the first.

Greenlee put away Tustin late in the fourth quarter last week with his 30-yard pick-six. There was a lot of football left at Trabuco Hills, and Greenlee and CdM’s defense couldn’t stop the Mustangs from scoring twice in the second quarter.

The Sea Kings’ defense had Trabuco Hills in tough spots on two scoring drives. But Jacobs burned CdM, completing a 27-yard pass to receiver Brenden Schooler on third-and-20 to keep a drive alive in CdM territory.

Three plays later, on another third-down situation, Jacobs somehow found the end zone. A defender appeared to have him, but he spun Jacobs around, back inside, and Jacobs rushed for a five-yard touchdown to tie the game.

Jacobs put the Mustangs ahead with 5 seconds left before halftime. Jacobs engineered a 16-play, 57-yard drive, using 5 1/2 minutes. Trabuco Hills moved the chains four times on third down and once on fourth down. The next third down Jacobs faced the senior threw a fade to the corner of the end zone to Schooler for a six-yard touchdown.

Trabuco Hills went ahead for the first time, and it never relinquished the lead. The Sea Kings cut the deficit to 14-10 on Neiger’s field goal with 71/2 minutes remaining in the third quarter. Other than that drive, which opened the second half, CdM turned the ball over on downs twice in the opponent’s territory, on the 37 late in the third quarter, on the 41 midway through the fourth quarter.

Trabuco Hills capitalized on both turnover on downs. Crosbie rushed for a 10-yard TD early in the fourth, and then Jacobs ripped a 26-yard touchdown run late in the fourth, giving him 56 rushing yards.

“We haven’t made the playoffs in a really long time,” said Jacobs, learning that the last time the Mustangs advanced to the playoffs, Hettig and O’Shea were assistants at the school in 2009, when Trabuco Hills reached the Southwest Division final.

“I’ve never had them as a teacher [at Trabuco Hills]. I don’t really know them. I didn’t see them once this week.”

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Trabuco Hills 28, Corona del Mar 10

SCORE BY QUARTERS

CdM 7 – 0 – 3 – 0 — 10

Trabuco 0 – 14 – 0 – 14 — 28

FIRST QUARTER

CdM – Greenlee 43 INT return (Neiger kick), 3:33.

SECOND QUARTER

TH – Jacobs 5 run (Cuzzupoli kick), 8:28.

TH – Schooler 6 pass from Jacobs (Cuzzupoli kick), :05.

THIRD QUARTER

CdM – Neiger 36 FG, 7:30.

FOURTH QUARTER

TH – Crosbie 10 run (Cuzzupoli kick), 8:47.

TH – Jacobs 26 run (Cuzzupoli kick), 2:32.

INDIVIDUAL RUSHING

CdM – Martin, 12-20.

TH – Crosbie, 25-135, 1 TD.

INDIVIDUAL PASSING

CdM – Garbers, 17-30-0, 153.

TH – Jacobs, 7-17-1, 87, 1 TD.

INDIVIDUAL RECEIVING

CdM – St. Geme, 7-72.

TH – Schooler, 2-33, 1 TD.