High School Football: CdM cruises into semis

GARDEN GROVE — The most unexpected thing for the Corona del Mar High football team came before Friday night’s CIF Southern Section Southern Division quarterfinal playoff game even began.

Coach Scott Meyer said several players had personal items stolen from the locker room while they were out on the field at Bolsa Grande High warming up. Meyer said Estancia players also had items stolen last week during their game against Los Amigos at the same venue.

“They told us it was all locked up and they put new locks on the doors,” Meyer said. “We came in just after our pre-game and a bunch of stuff was already gone.”

On the field, it was a different story.

Nobody was going to steal anything from the top-seeded Sea Kings as they continue their quest for a third straight CIF crown.

They dominated offensively and defensively to blank Los Amigos, 42-0, and advance to the semifinals. CdM (12-0) will play at Westminster in a semifinal game next week. Westminster edged Woodbridge, 21-14, in another quarterfinal game Friday night.

Junior running back Cole Martin had 11 carries for 87 yards and three touchdowns against Los Amigos. The touchdowns went for nine, 26 and six yards. On the second touchdown, he ran untouched through the middle.

“That’s where it all starts, up front,” Martin said. “When you have holes like that, it’s kind of hard not to make big plays. It was a lot of fun tonight. The line played well, and we threw really well tonight.”

Senior quarterback Luke Napolitano also was sharp, completing 12 of 17 passes for 214 yards, including a highlight 33-yard touchdown pass to junior Cole Collins in the front of the end zone that beat double coverage. Napolitano also threw another touchdown strike, a 25-yarder to senior tight end Connor Sage.

And those numbers all came in the first half. The game was well in hand by halftime, with CdM up, 35-0, after scoring on each of its five first-half possessions.

“No one really knows who it was,” Martin said of the pre-game theft, “but it kind of got us fired up a little bit.”

CdM, which played the whole second half with backup quarterback Peter Bush, added a 71-yard touchdown run by super sophomore Anthony Battista in the third quarter. And defensively, the Sea Kings were stout in recording their fourth shutout of the season.

“We talked about coming out and getting off to a fast start and playing at a high level, building off last week, and our guys did that,” Meyer said. “I’m really, really pleased. We got a shutout, scored 42 points, ran the ball well and Luke was real sharp again.”

Los Amigos (9-3) senior quarterback Anthony Magana was able to both throw the ball and scramble effectively at times. But it wasn’t enough for the Lobos, who lost to CdM in the CIF quarterfinals for the third straight season.

Magana said his team was short-handed, suffering key injuries to players like sophomore running back Jose Olvera (concussion) and senior defensive end Alonzo Montes De Oca (ACL) in recent weeks. Neither played on Friday night, but Magana gave credit to CdM.

“It’s all right,” Magana said of being eliminated by the Sea Kings for the third straight year. “I like playing them. They’re a good challenge. They always come hard, and I like that about teams … They’re good athletes, and I give [credit] to them, but I thought we still could have scored.”

Corona del Mar has not played Westminster, which shared the Golden West League title, this season. The last time the Sea Kings played the Lions was in the first round of the 2011 playoffs, a 43-7 victory.

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Corona del Mar 42, Los Amigos 0

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Corona del Mar 14 – 21 – 7 – 0 — 42

Los Amigos 0 – 0 – 0 – 0 — 0

FIRST QUARTER

CdM – Martin 9 run (Neiger kick), 8:52.

CdM – Collins 33 pass from Napolitano (Neiger kick), 0:37.

SECOND QUARTER

CdM – Sage 25 pass from Napolitano (Neiger kick), 10:01.

CdM – Martin 26 run (Neiger kick), 6:22.

CdM – Martin 6 run (Neiger kick), 1:47.

THIRD QUARTER

CdM – Battista 71 run (Neiger kick), 1:10.

INDIVIDUAL RUSHING

CdM – Battista, 11-121, 1 TD; Martin, 11-87, 3 TDs.

LA – Contreras, 18-70.

INDIVIDUAL PASSING

CdM – Napolitano, 12-17-0, 214, 2 TDs.

LA – Magana, 11-25-1, 80.

INDIVIDUAL RECEIVING

CdM – St. Geme, 5-93; Collins, 3-47, 1 TD.

LA – Contreras, 3-24.