Football: Sloppy Sea Kings handle Irvine

IRVINE — The Corona del Mar High football team started a new streak Friday night, but Coach Scott Meyer certainly hopes the Sea Kings’ 21-7 win at Irvine is not reflective of a new trend.

CdM opened the Pacific Coast League schedule by overcoming two interceptions, four fumbles, one of which it lost, and some untimely penalties to bounce back after its 30-game win streak, the longest in the state at the time, was halted by Tesoro in the Sea Kings’ final nonleague tuneup two weeks ago.

The Sea Kings (5-1, 1-0 in league), who share the No. 1 ranking in the CIF Southern Section Southwest Division, did plenty, however, to get back on the winning track against the Vaqueros (4-2, 0-1).

Sophomore backup quarterback Chase Garbers, who entered the game as part of a scheduled plan, but extended his stay when starter Peter Bush later exited for good with a leg injury late in the first half, sparkled for the winners.

The 6-foot-2, 190-pounder ran for 90 yards on 15 attempts, including a one-yard touchdown. He also completed 12 of 20 passes for 167 yards and one touchdown to help the two-time-defending league champions earn their 13th straight win against PCL foes, including two playoff triumphs.

The Sea Kings were on the verge of their fourth consecutive shutout victory over the Vaqueros, who scored against the second-team defense with 4:08 left to avert a fourth-straight blanking. CdM has topped Irvine five straight times and won seven of eight since the Vaqueros joined the PCL.

CdM’s sloppiness, some of which might have been created by the bye week it experienced after the Tesoro loss, helped Irvine stay close in a first half in which the Sea Kings posted a 310-33 advantage in total offense.

But Irvine failed to capitalize on three first-half turnovers, two of which stopped CdM drives in the red zone and another that set up the hosts at the CdM 16-yard line.

CdM also missed three field-goal attempts to keep things close and had two apparent touchdowns either nullified by penalty or missed entirely by officials who appeared to be woefully out of position.

The Sea Kings rolled up 502 yards of offense, amassing 28 first downs and running 73 offensive plays. CdM did not punt until there were just more than two minutes remaining.

Senior receiver Cole Collins had six of his nine receptions in the first half, when he accumulated 95 of his 119 aerial yards. He caught an eight-yard touchdown toss from Garbers with 2:02 left in the third quarter that put the visitors up, 21-0.

Senior Bo St. Geme caught four passes for 52 yards, while junior Jack Blower had three catches for 58 yards and sophomore Dylan Tucker had three receptions for 43 yards.

And when Garbers and Bush weren’t throwing to open receivers, they were breezing out of the pocket to compile oodles of largely uncontested scrambling yards.

Defensively, CdM stymied Irvine throughout, stuffing its run and keeping receivers in front to allow only five plays of at least 10 yards, all passes.

Irvine’s short passing game, which included a handful of shovel-pass completions, managed to avert the vaunted CdM pass rush, which did not record a sack until the final seconds of the game.

Ends Chase Parker and Harrison Carter, tackles Justin Hess and Matt Flores, as well as linebackers Hoyt Crance, Karl Donovan and Robby Hoffman overwhelmed Irvine blockers to help limit the Vaqueros to 69 rushing yards on 29 carries. Almost one-third of that total came against backups.

Offensively, tailbacks Jaydin Moses and Cole Martin combined for 145 rushing yards, with Moses netting all 83 of his ground yards after halftime.

Garbers led and capped a nine-play, 71-yard touchdown drive on his first possession, after being inserted late in the opening quarter. His one-yard run opened the scoring.

After Irvine intercepted a tipped pass and returned it to the CdM 16-yard line — which resulted in a 29-yard field goal try that was wide left — Bush returned to the game. But the junior standout limped off three plays later after recovering a fumbled shotgun snap.

Garbers appeared to hit Collins inside the left pylon for a 31-yard touchdown on fourth-and-five late in the second quarter. But the officials, none of which were within 25 yards of the apparent catch and toe-tap inside the sideline, ruled the pass was incomplete. There was also a holding penalty on the play that Irvine turned down to take over on downs.

CdM was also flagged for a chop block to nullify a would-be five-yard scoring hookup between Garbers and St. Geme on a fourth-quarter drive that ended in a missed 31-yard field-goal attempt.

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Corona del Mar 21, Irvine 7

SCORE BY QUARTERS

CdM 0 – 7 – 14 – 0 – 21

Irvine 0 – 0 – 0 – 7 – 7

SECOND QUARTER

CdM – Garbers 1 run (Neiger kick), 9:41.

THIRD QUARTER

CdM – Moses 2 run (Neiger kick), 5:31.

CdM – Collins 8 pass from Garbers (Neiger kick), 2:02.

FOURTH QUARTER

Irv – Gray 8 run (Colbert kick), 4:08.

INDIVIDUAL RUSHING

CdM – Garbers, 15-90, 1 TD; Moses, 13-83, 1 TD; Martin, 8-62.

Irv – Gray, 8-38, 1 TD.

INDIVIDUAL PASSING

CdM – Garbers, 12-20-2, 167, 1 TD; Bush, 7-11-0, 105.

Irv – Filia, 12-19-0, 107.

INDIVIDUAL RECEIVING

CdM – Collins, 9-119, 1 TD; St. Geme, 4-52; Blower, 3-58.

Irv – Colbert, 3-57.