Sea Kings outlast Colony
ONTARIO — Chase Garbers has filled the stat sheet with gaudy numbers in his three seasons as Corona del Mar High’s quarterback, but he did something for the first time on Friday night.
His stat line did not match his usual output, and yet he could not have been happier.
Put simply, football is a team game, and Garbers’ team will advance to the semifinals for the first time since he assumed the Sea Kings’ starting quarterback duties as a sophomore.
JT Murphy rushed for 195 yards and three touchdowns, and Corona del Mar survived a furious rally from host Ontario Colony to win, 49-48, in a CIF Southern Section Division 4 playoff game.
“For this senior class and the juniors, getting knocked out in the quarters the last two years was heartbreaking for us,” Garbers said. “We showed what CdM football is all about. We can go four quarters with anyone, and we’re on to the semis at home.”
The Sea Kings (11-1) will host Lompoc (12-0) in the semifinals next week.
Garbers threw for 193 yards and two touchdowns, and he added 82 yards on the ground. Most of his damage had been done by halftime, and it appeared that CdM would be in good hands when Murphy scored a 27-yard touchdown to open the third.
After CdM built its biggest lead of 42-20 on the first possession out of halftime, Colony came on like gangbusters.
The Titans (8-4) scored 20 points in a span of 5:08 to narrow the gap to 42-40 at the 2:31 mark of the third. Quarterback Joseph Tesimale tossed touchdowns to Michael Ezeike and Nathan Tilford, and he ran for a 24-yard score as well.
“So much credit needs to go to Colony,” Sea Kings Coach Dan O’Shea said. “We got up 42-20 on them, and those guys never quit. I thought their quarterback played incredibly well.”
Tesimale threw for 414 yards and six touchdowns.
Tilford, Colony’s Arizona-bound running back, was equally impressive. He rushed for 138 yards, adding 191 yards and two touchdowns on his seven receptions.
Murphy provided some critical separation, scoring on a 17-yard sprint with 14 seconds left in the third to take the lead to 49-40, making it a two-possession game.
“It felt great,” Murphy said of his big night. “The O-Line was probably the main reason for it. They blocked their [behinds] off for me, and I really appreciate it.”
Garbers didn’t have much work to do in the first half. The Sea Kings’ defense produced a three-and-out on the opening drive, and a poor punt gave CdM the ball at the Colony 28.
The senior Cal commit connected with his favorite target, TaeVeon Le, for a 14-yard touchdown to capitalize on the good field position.
Corona del Mar’s offense did not see the field again until midway through the second quarter.
That was due to a tremendous special teams performance by Dylan Tucker. He scored twice off of kickoffs, taking them back 89 and 85 yards, respectively.
The Sea Kings forced two punts from the Titans in the first half, and that was all they needed to be up, 35-20, at the break.
Junior linebacker Clyde Moore had a loud first half, recording three tackles for a loss and a sack to help spur the Sea Kings’ defensive stops.
“He’s amazing,” Tucker said of Moore. “We love the kid. He’s such a good addition to our defense. We love the kid as a brother.”
Colony, a high-scoring offense in its own right, could not be kept down for long. The Titans scored touchdowns twice on fourth downs in the red zone. They converted four of their five fourth downs in the game, three of which went for scores.
In the first quarter, Tesimale found Ezeike and Ryan Moya-Chapron for touchdowns on critical fourth-down attempts to keep the Titans in the game.
Corona del Mar needed its entire supporting cast to get the job done.
Moore and Charlie Blower were forceful on the defensive end.
Le had 120 receiving yards and two touchdowns. Reece Perez added eight catches for 71 yards as those two receivers stepped up in the absence of Billy Shaw.
Shaw stood on the sidelines, supporting his team in his varsity jacket. The senior receiver suffered an injury to his right fibula late in the team’s first-round game against Murrieta Mesa.
Speaking with reporters prior to the game, Shaw said that doctors have told him that the injury will heal on its own. It pained him to not be on the playing field, and he said the best-case scenario would be a return for a potential CIF-SS title game.
CIF-SS Division 4 Playoffs
Corona del Mar 49, Colony 48
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Corona del Mar 14-21-14-0 – 49
Colony 6-14-20-8 – 48
FIRST QUARTER
CdM – Le 14 pass from Garbers (Casper kick), 6:56.
Col – Ezeike 6 pass from Tesimale (Valdivia kick failed), 0:38.
CdM – Tucker 89 kick return (Casper kick), 0:24.
SECOND QUARTER
CdM – Le 18 pass from Garbers (Casper kick), 6:05.
Col – Moya-Chapron 8 pass from Tesimale (Tilford pass from Tesimale), 2:54.
CdM – Tucker 85 kick return (Casper kick), 2:40.
Col – Moya-Chapron 80 pass from Tesimale (Valdivia kick blocked), 2:28.
CdM – Murphy 20 run (Casper kick), 0:42.
THIRD QUARTER
CdM – Murphy 27 run (Casper kick), 10:51.
Col – Ezeike 25 pass from Tesimale (Tesimale pass failed), 7:39.
Col – Tesimale 24 run (Tilford run), 6:32.
Col – Tilford 42 pass from Tesimale (Tesimale pass failed), 2:31.
CdM – Murphy 17 run (Casper kick), 0:14.
FOURTH QUARTER
Col – Tilford 7 pass from Tesimale (Ezeike pass from Tesimale), 1:38.
INDIVIDUAL RUSHING
CdM – Murphy, 17-195, 3 TDs.
Col – N. Tiford, 17-138.
INDIVIDUAL PASSING
CdM – Garbers, 15-23-0, 193, 2 TDs.
Col – Tesimale, 21-29-0, 414, 6 TDs.
INDIVIDUAL RECEIVING
CdM – Le, 6-120, 2 TDs.
Col – N. Tilford, 7-191, 2 TDs.
