High School Football: Garbers shines again in CdM win

Corona del Mar High’s football team could draw a sellout, and it would still be a wonder as to why more people aren’t inside the stadium.

That is how entertaining it is to watch quarterback Chase Garbers go to work.

The maestro was at it again on Thursday night, delivering a symphonic performance in the Sea Kings’ 47-7 rout of University in a Pacific Coast League game at Jim Scott Stadium.

Garbers threw for 314 yards and five touchdowns. The dual-threat senior added 92 rushing yards on 10 carries.

Jaydin Moses had 150 total yards (119 rushing) and two touchdowns for the Sea Kings (7-1, 3-0).

Corona del Mar won its 23rd consecutive league game. The Sea Kings have games remaining against Northwood and Irvine.

It was senior night for the Sea Kings, and Garbers made sure he got all of his senior receivers involved. Six of CdM’s seven touchdowns were scored by a senior.

Reece Perez caught two touchdowns. TaeVeon Le (a junior), Billy Shaw, Cameron Kormos (from Nathaniel Espinoza), and Moses had the others.

As it has been through most of the season, CdM’s offense was on point. Sea Kings coach Dan O’Shea said it has been five games since his team punted with the first-team offense on the field.

“In practice, we pride ourselves not to punt ever,” Garbers said. “We’ve been able to accomplish that the last five weeks; 659 total yards is an offense’s dream.”

O’Shea wants his team to remain hungry.

“We’ve been clicking, but we’re not satisfied,” O’Shea said. “We feel like we’re at 75 percent of where we need to be offensively and defensively.”

The offensive line of Colston Chacon, Sean Owens, Arwin Rahmatpanah, Bryan Aceves-Rodriguez, and Denham King kept Garbers upright, and he rewarded their hard work.

“Our offensive line killed it,” Garbers said. “No sacks is always good.”

Even when his receivers were blanketed, Garbers had the answer. He converted a fourth-and-1 with his legs in the first quarter to set up a red-zone score.

Later, the Cal-bound quarterback worked his magic to get out of third-and-28 situation. University respected the arm of Garbers, playing a prevent defense. The senior made one man miss before scampering across midfield for a 31-yard gain.

“It’s so understated, his ability to run the ball,” O’Shea said of Garbers. “He bails us out of most bad yardage situations with his feet. He can run with anybody, and he does it with such good instincts.”

Corona del Mar jumped out to a 14-0 lead on a pair of 15-yard touchdown catches by Perez and Le (105 receiving yards).

Alex Pourdanesh scored on a six-yard run out of the wildcat formation for the Trojans (6-2, 1-2) to cut that lead in half to begin the second quarter.

The Sea Kings countered with 20 points in under four minutes, spreading the lead to 34-7 by halftime.

University entered the game with an identical 6-1 overall record. Le looked at this game as an opportunity to make a statement against a team that had been playing well.

“Every game is a playoff game in the PCL for us,” the Yale commit said. “Going 6-1 ourselves, we realized that this is one of the games where we had to make a statement and try to prove who we are as a team.”

The Trojans dropped to 1-2 in league, though their overall record leaves them in good position for a playoff berth. They have games remaining against Irvine and Woodbridge.

Pacific Coast League

Corona del Mar 47, University 7

SCORE BY QUARTERS

University 0-7-0-0 – 7

Corona del Mar 14-20-13-0 – 47

FIRST QUARTER

CdM – Perez 15 pass from Garbers (Casper kick), 9:30.

CdM – Le 15 pass from Garbers (Casper kick), 3:34.

SECOND QUARTER

Uni – A. Pourdanesh 6 run (Loveland kick), 9:48.

CdM – Perez 9 pass from Garbers (Casper kick), 8:57.

CdM – Moses 16 run (Casper kick), 7:00.

CdM – Moses 24 pass from Garbers (Casper kick failed), 4:58.

THIRD QUARTER

CdM – Shaw 31 pass from Garbers (Casper kick blocked), 7:07.

CdM – Kormos 31 pass from Espinoza (Casper kick), 2:59.

INDIVIDUAL RUSHING

CdM – Moses, 8-119, 1 TD.

Uni – Smith, 2-38.

INDIVIDUAL PASSING

CdM – Garbers, 15-21-1, 314, 5 TDs.

Uni – Keeling, 10-19-1, 82.

INDIVIDUAL RECEIVING

CdM – Le, 4-105, TD.

Uni – Outland 1-26.