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High Schools: Meyer excited to coach All-Stars

(SCOTT SMELTZER / Daily Pilot)
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ANAHEIM — Out of all the tables, Corona del Mar High Coach Scott Meyer and his assistants had one all to themselves on Thursday night.

The CdM staff deserved its own table at the banquet for the 54th Brea Lions Club Orange County North-South Prep All-Star Football Game. Meyer is in charge of the South All-Stars and his CdM assistants are helping him out in preparation for the June 28 game at Orange Coast College.

Almost five weeks before the senior all-star game, Meyer, his assistants and three of his players, quarterback Cayman Carter, defensive end Tim Reinhardt and kicker Griff Amies, were honored during the banquet at the Astor Classics Event Center in Anaheim, along with the rest of the players and coaches involved in the game.

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Meyer will get to guide Carter, Reinhardt and Amies on the field one more time before they plan to play in college. Carter is walking on at Southern Methodist University, Reinhardt at San Diego State, and Amies will play at OCC.

The last time Meyer coached Carter, Reinhardt and Amies, they helped him win his second CIF Southern Section Southern Division title in as many years.

The three played key roles in the Sea Kings’ 35-10 rout of Garden Grove in the championship game at Angel Stadium in December.

Meyer said he’s excited about coaching his three CdM players and two Newport-Mesa tailbacks, Newport Harbor’s Talalelei Teaupa and Estancia’s Robert Murtha, as well as Newport Harbor offensive tackle Zach Cornwell, who are on the South side. Meyer coached against Teaupa and Murtha last year, during the Battle of the Bay game and a scrimmage.

Teaupa, who plans to continue his playing career at either OCC or Saddleback College, and Murtha, who’s bound for OCC, are going to be running for Meyer, starting on June 15, the South’s first day of practice.

“It’s good to have them on our side,” Meyer said of Teaupa and Murtha, who combined to rush for 3,256 yards and 26 touchdowns this past fall.

“We’re all honored to [coach the game] and looking forward to it. It should be a fun time coaching these guys.”

•Meyer is the first Newport-Mesa coach in 20 years to be at the helm of one the teams in the OC All-Star Football Game.

The last local coach to lead a team in the game was Newport Harbor’s Jeff Brinkley in 1993. He guided the South All-Stars, who lost to the North, 14-3, at OCC.

Meyer is the second CdM coach to have been chosen as a head coach for the game. Dave Holland was on the sideline in 1989, when the South tied the North, 17-17, and in 1973, when the South lost, 20-10.

The other Newport-Mesa men who have been head coaches during the OC All-Star Football Game are Newport Harbor’s Mike Giddings in 1984, Estancia’s Jim Bratten in 1978, Newport Harbor’s Bill Pizzica in 1975, Estancia’s Phil Brown in 1971, and Newport Harbor’s Wayne Hughes in 1964.

Each of the locals has coached the South side. Their teams haven’t done well, though, going 2-5-1 during those years.

The last Newport-Mesa coach to leave the field victorious was Giddings. Meyer hopes to end the 29-year drought.

Meyer will be up against someone who has been the head coach in this game before. Fred DiPalma led the North to a 12-6 victory in 1994. DiPalma was with Savanna back then.

He is now at Katella, which last season won the Orange League title, the program’s first league crown since 1967.

Meyer has experience coaching in all-star games.

Before he took over at CdM in 2011, Meyer coached in the Long Beach area. In his years as an assistant at Long Beach Wilson and Lakewood, Meyer served in the same capacity four times during the 605 All-Star Game.

•For the second straight year, 17 Newport-Mesa players received nominations for the OC All-Star Football Game and a half dozen made the game again.

The numbers are up from the 2011 and ’10 OC All-Star games in which only two local players earned roster spots.

A reason for the increased numbers can be attributed to the success the CdM, Newport Harbor and Estancia programs have achieved the past two years.

The Sea Kings have won back-to-back Southern Section Southern Division titles under Meyer, finishing 12-2 each time. Last season, they went 5-0 in Pacific Coast League play and claimed their first undefeated league title in the program’s history.

Last season, the Sailors reached the quarterfinals of the Southwest Division playoffs. The quarterfinal appearance marked the Sailors’ first in seven years, and they recorded their best Sunset League record (4-1) in 35 years.

The Eagles made it to the semifinals of the Southern Division playoffs in 2011. That’s the furthest Estancia has advanced in the postseason.

•Orange Coast College will be the site of the OC All-Star Football Game for the 42nd time.

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