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Two-Minute Drill: CdM seeks perfection

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CORONA DEL MAR

•The Corona del Mar High football team clinched at least a share of its second straight Pacific Coast League title when it beat Beckman, 41-0, on Friday night at Davidson Field.

The Sea Kings (9-0, 4-0 in league), top-ranked in the CIF Southern Section Southern Division, will return to their home field for the third time in four weeks this Friday. It will be senior night, and the Sea Kings want to clinch the title outright by beating Northwood (3-6, 2-2), and they will be big favorites to do just that.

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CdM has never finished a regular season 10-0 in program history. The closest team to regular-season perfection was the 1988 squad, coached by Dave Holland, which went 8-0-2 in the regular season, captured the Sea View League title and went on to win the CIF Southern Section Division IV crown.

“[We’ve won] 19 straight games now,” junior lineman Justin Hess said. “It’s really important to us [to finish strong]. We’ve had this mentality all year that we want to be the first team in CdM history to be undefeated in league and ongoing. That’s been our goal, and we want to have a strong finish.”

•A CdM coach received an ice water bath near the end of the dominant victory over Beckman, but it wasn’t head coach Scott Meyer.

It was CdM receivers/special teams coach Brad Bohn. Meyer explained why after the game.

“He’s been with us for two years, and he teaches over at Beckman,” Meyer said. “It was kind of a special night for him against these guys.”

Bohn teaches psychology at Beckman.

•Asked what CdM needed to clean up before the playoffs, Meyer did not hesitate to answer “penalties.”

CdM had seven penalties for 75 yards. Two of them cost the Sea Kings touchdowns.

Junior cornerback Brett Greenlee’s interception return for a touchdown in the first quarter was called back due to a block in the back. And, in the second quarter, junior safety Barrett Barbato also had a interception he returned for a touchdown, but it was called back due to holding.

“Way too many penalties,” Meyer said, “and they’re big ones. We’ve got look at the film and clean that up.”

•Corona del Mar remains No. 1 in the CalHiSports.com CIF State Bowl Game Division III South Rankings. The rest of the top five, which features Tulare Mission Oak (9-0), Agoura Hills Oak Park (8-1), Monrovia (8-1) and Garden Grove (9-0), is unchanged as well.

— Matt Szabo

COSTA MESA

•Costa Mesa High is all alone in first place in the Orange Coast League. That is where the Mustangs plan to finish.

In a game featuring two undefeated league teams, Costa Mesa rushed past Calvary Chapel, 58-41, at Jim Scott Stadium last week.

Behind tailback Oronde Crenshaw’s 377 yards and five touchdowns on 43 carries, the Mustangs (6-3, 4-0 in league) clinched at least a share of the league crown and the league’s No. 1 berth into the CIF Southern Section Southern Division playoffs. They can close out league play as undefeated champions with a victory at third-place Laguna Beach (5-4, 2-2) on Friday at 7 p.m.

Costa Mesa last finished perfect in league five years ago, when it went 4-0. Back then, the Orange Coast League was a five-team league.

The Mustangs can claim their fourth outright league title in school history with a victory against Laguna Beach, or a Calvary Chapel loss to Estancia.

The Mustangs have won eight league titles in their history, starting in 1976 as co-South Coast League champions with Corona del Mar, in 1978 as co-Sea View League champions with CdM, in 1993 as outright Pacific Coast League champions, in 1999 as co-Pacific Coast League champions with CdM, in 2002 as outright Golden West League champions, in 2007 as co-Orange Coast League champions with Estancia, in 2008 as outright Orange Coast League champions, and in 2013.

•Wally Grant has seen almost half of the top-10 greatest single-game rushing performances in Orange County.

Crenshaw’s 377 yards is the 10th best in county history. The senior was 38 yards short of breaking Costa Mesa’s single-game record of 414 yards set by Charles Chatman in 1994. Chatman’s performance ranks seventh in the county.

Grant has watched both running backs crack the top 10, as the head coach this year at Costa Mesa and as an assistant under Myron Miller back in 1994.

When Miller left Costa Mesa for Tustin, Grant went with him. In 1997, Grant also saw DeShaun Foster rush for 378 yards, which now ranks as the ninth-best total in the county.

And by the way, Grant was in attendance at Jim Scott Stadium on Oct. 24, when Laguna Beach’s Nathan Lancaster rushed for 547 yards. Grant went to the game to scout Laguna Beach’s opponent, Calvary Chapel, when Lancaster broke the county record held by Foothill’s Skyler Champion, who rushed for 527 yards in 1999.

•Costa Mesa’s defense continues to force turnovers. In the past two games, it has intercepted five passes and recovered four fumbles.

The nine turnovers have led to 45 points. On two of those turnovers, Crenshaw and fellow senior linebacker Quinton Bell have found the end zone by themselves by intercepting passes and returning them 72 and 13 yards, respectively.

— David Carrillo Peñaloza

ESTANCIA

•Estancia High has a chance to return to the CIF Southern Section Southern Division playoffs for a fifth straight time.

The Eagles helped their cause with a 26-8 victory against Saddleback in an Orange Coast League game at Segerstrom High on Saturday.

Estancia shares third place in league with Laguna Beach. Both teams are 2-2 in league, one game back of second-place Calvary Chapel (3-1). The league’s only undefeated team is first-place Costa Mesa (4-0), which clinched the league’s No. 1 postseason entry.

The Eagles will need to beat Calvary Chapel on Friday at Jim Scott Stadium at 7 p.m., and have rival Costa Mesa defeat Laguna Beach on the same night, to secure the league’s No. 2 postseason berth.

If Estancia gets past Calvary Chapel, but Laguna Beach upsets Costa Mesa, then Estancia, Calvary Chapel and Laguna Beach will each be 3-2 in league. Those teams will have beaten each other. As a result, coin flips would determine the league’s final two guaranteed playoff entries.

If Estancia loses to Calvary Chapel, Costa Mesa beats Laguna Beach, and Godinez knocks off winless Saddleback, three teams would share third place at 2-3, Estancia, Laguna Beach and Godinez. Those teams have defeated each other. As a result, coin flips would decide the league’s third and final automatic playoff entry. Calvary Chapel would be the league’s No. 2 playoff entry.

•The Eagles plan to use two tailbacks next week against Calvary Chapel. Both juniors, Indiana Taylor and Christian Laurent, are shifty runners.

Taylor has done well while filling in the past two weeks for Laurent, who went down with an ankle injury in the league opener. Taylor has rushed 59 times for 474 yards and five touchdowns in 2 1/2 games.

Laurent, who has played six games at running back, leads Estancia with 869 yards on 179 carries. He has also rushed for three touchdowns.

Last week, Laurent played some at cornerback.

“As long as his leg is healthy, then he’s going to be sharing the ball,” Coach Mike Bargas said of Laurent.

•For the first time, Bargas put Alejandra Mera in a game.

She entered late in the third quarter with Estancia leading, 26-0. Mera played on the defensive line.

“She loves football,” Bargas said. “She’s there every day, so I figured I owed her that. She’s going to remember this for the rest of her life.”

Bargas said he has had other girls come out for the team.

“But they never made it [onto the field], though,” Bargas said.

— David Carrillo Peñaloza

NEWPORT HARBOR

•The Newport Harbor High football team has utilized the passing game with great success this season and it was again efficient and productive in a 49-17 Sunset League win over Marina on Friday at Huntington Beach High.

But the Tars produced the bulk of their 458 yards of offense on the ground, despite playing without starter Joseph Zavala at right guard.

Senior Wyatt Savisaar filled in for Zavala and, beside right tackle Joey Stukonis, center Gerardo Aceves, left guard TJ Tarazevits left tackle Ramsey Hufford and tight end Brett Beaudette helped pave the way for 274 rushing yards.

The primary beneficiary was junior tailback Chance Siemonsma, who had touchdown runs of 80, 56 and nine yards on his way to 179 rushing yards on only nine carries.

“Siemonsma just keeps getting better and better,” Sailors Coach Jeff Brinkley said. “It’s amazing the progress he has made running the ball. He hit a couple big ones tonight and obviously we threw it again well. We’ve got a guy who can wing it (junior quarterback Cole Norris) and a couple of receivers [Quest Truxton and Cory Stowell], who can catch it. So, we’ve been pretty balanced.”

•Zavala, whom Brinkley said should return for the regular-season finale Friday at Huntington Beach High against the host Oilers, is one of many injuries the Sailors, ranked No. 7 in the CIF Southern Section Southwest Division, have overcome to produce their 5-4 record, 3-1 in league.

“We’ve had so many guys in and out, it has been musical chairs,” Brinkley said. “It has been different guys every week, either sick or hurt.”

As the lead increased against Marina, Newport Harbor was able to use some reserves. Among those who took advantage was backup tailback Jack Rapillo, who carried nine times for 35 yards, including a two-yard run for the Sailors’ final touchdown.

•One element the Sailors will need to clean up if they hope to extend their season much longer is penalties. Newport Harbor amassed 15 penalties against Marina for 137 yards. Seven of those penalties were for at least 10 yards.

Marina was penalized nine times, bringing the combined penalty yardage to 218.

— Barry Faulkner

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