Football: CdM hangs on
This isn’t the Southern Division anymore, but the Corona del Mar High football team’s goal of a fourth straight CIF Southern Section title almost went south in a hurry Friday night at Davidson Field.
The Sea Kings moved up to the Southwest Division this year. They’re still the top-seeded team, but they got all they could handle from Tustin in a first-round playoff game. The home fans were uneasy for much of the second half.
At the end, though, the Sea Kings turned to their defense to again provide a spark, as it has dozens of times in CdM’s remarkable four-year run. CdM made plays late to capture its 15th straight playoff victory under Coach Scott Meyer.
Senior cornerback Brett Greenlee intercepted a deflected pass and returned it 30 yards for a touchdown late in the fourth quarter, helping CdM survive and advance, 17-7, over the Tillers.
Corona del Mar (10-1) will play at Trabuco Hills in a Southwest Division quarterfinal game next week. Trabuco Hills defeated Troy, 52-28, in another first-round game Friday night.
If the Pacific Coast League champion Sea Kings earn their fourth straight ring, it won’t be a cakewalk. Earlier this week, one well-known local sportswriter projected CdM to lose to Trabuco Hills next week. And Tustin (6-5), the third-place team from the Empire League, certainly didn’t play like a third-place team.
“I think every game’s going to be a battle,” Meyer said. “The Empire League is tough. [Tustin] had several really good athletes, they had some linemen, and they played real hard. They battled the whole game. That’s not a bad team just because they’re a third-place team.”
The Tillers were in position to perhaps drive for the winning score after CdM, ahead 10-7 at the time, fumbled the ball at the Tustin four-yard line with 4:11 left in the fourth quarter.
The Tillers ran three plays, eventually advancing the ball to their own 21-yard line on a 10-yard run by Robert Washington. On the fourth play, though, the CdM defense pounced.
Tustin quarterback Alema Pilimai tried to get the ball to his play-making receiver, 6-foot-4 Utah commit George Wilson, who had six catches for 81 yards. But the pass over the middle deflected off Wilson’s hands and was grabbed by Greenlee. The first turnover of the game by Tustin killed the Tillers. A couple of seconds later, Greenlee was in the end zone, and CdM had essentially iced the game.
“They ran out a slant, and the receiver just bobbled,” Greenlee said. “It landed right in my hands, pretty much. My teammates did the rest.”
Greenlee can give himself more credit than that. He’s also the one who also blocked a field goal late in the first quarter, preserving what at the time was a scoreless tie.
But the Sea Kings lost two fumbles in the game and committed penalties at inopportune times. Senior receiver Bo St. Geme caught a 35-yard touchdown pass from sophomore quarterback Chase Garbers in the first half, but those were the only points CdM could manage through three quarters.
CdM also had missed two field-goal attempts in the game. Junior kicker Jason Neiger made sure the third one went through, nailing it from 36 yards out on the first play of the fourth quarter to give CdM a 10-7 lead.
Tustin was forced to punt, and St. Geme took over down the stretch with fellow senior receiver Cole Collins (deep thigh bruise) out of the game. St. Geme, who finished with nine catches for 141 yards and the touchdown, made four catches on a 75-yard drive that got to the Tustin five-yard line before CdM fumbled it away.
“We were able to get chunks at a time, move the chains when we needed to, take time off the clock,” St. Geme said. “We got it down to the [four]-yard line and we ended up fumbling, but we feel confident in our defense with good field position like that, that they’ll make a stop.”
CdM’s senior tandem at defensive end, Parker Chase and Harrison Carter, combined for four quarterback sacks. Carter had three of them, while Chase recorded his 21st sack of the year to add to his CdM single-season record.
On this night, the defense did just enough for the Sea Kings to advance.
“This division is tough,” Meyer said. “Going in, there were probably eight to 10 teams that could win this whole thing. It’s only going to get tougher from this point forward.”
Added Greenlee: “I guess a lot of people have picked against us. We try to thrive in these kind of situations, and stick together.”
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Corona del Mar 17, Tustin 7
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Tustin 0 – 0 – 7 – 0 — 7
CdM 0 – 7 – 0 – 10 — 17
SECOND QUARTER
CdM – St. Geme 35 pass from Garbers (Neiger kick), 10:55.
THIRD QUARTER
T – Anderson 7 pass from Pilimai (Camacho kick), 2:53.
FOURTH QUARTER
CdM – Neiger 36 FG, 11:54.
CdM – Greenlee 30 INT return, 2:29.
INDIVIDUAL RUSHING
T – Pilimai, 19-67.
CdM – Martin, 20-113.
INDIVIDUAL PASSING
T – Pilimai, 13-22-1, 136, 1 TD.
CdM – Garbers, 18-25-0, 234, 1 TD.
INDIVIDUAL RECEIVING
T – Wilson, 6-81.
CdM – St. Geme, 9-141, 1 TD.
