CdM football handles Cypress for second straight road win
ANAHEIM — Corona del Mar assumed total control from the opening moments in its nonleague football game against Cypress on Thursday night, taking advantage of short fields and squeezing the life out of the game with its efficiency.
Junior wide receiver Dorsett Stecker had seven catches for 144 yards and three touchdowns, as the Sea Kings blew out the host Centurions 47-14 at Handel Stadium.
Senior quarterback Max Nashed found Stecker at the end of back-to-back scoring drives to begin the game for CdM (2-0). The first came on a contested catch on an in-breaking route from the right near the goal line.
Stecker followed with a 28-yard touchdown, beating press-coverage out of the slot to track down the deep pass just before the end zone.
“If someone mans me, I think it’s game over, to be honest,” said Stecker, who has five receiving touchdowns across CdM’s first two games. “They have to double me. If they man, I could cook anyone off the release. I’m just confident in myself, and I think that brings a lot of good stuff to my game.”
Senior running back Wyatt Lucas rushed through the middle of the offensive line for a 31-yard touchdown, giving CdM a 21-0 lead before the end of the first quarter. The blockers up front included senior left tackle Anthony Hastings, junior left guard Judah Snow, junior center Eddie Susolik, junior right guard Damian Zeno-Herrera and senior right tackle Aziz Altuwaijri.
“Tonight was good because we were clean,” CdM coach Kevin Hettig said. “A week ago, we weren’t very clean offensively. Decision-making was good. We executed the offense as it’s supposed to be executed. That’s as good as our offense has looked in a minute, in a long time.
“It does start up front. Our line played outstanding tonight, and then we kind of handled it. … We had short fields on every one of those drives because our defense was three-and-outing them the whole first half. I think we had 15 snaps of defense after the first drive of the third quarter.”
Hettig added that defense would be a focal point in the week ahead leading into a Sept. 6 game at Palos Verdes with the limited snaps for the first-team unit.
“I think Palos Verdes is going to be a tough challenge, and then the following week against San Clemente,” Nashed said. “It’s two really good teams in a row, so that’s a good test to see how we’re actually doing.”
The Sea Kings would not punt until the fourth quarter, when they were also scored upon for the first time this season. Bryson Busbee, who had endured a frustrating night that saw him gain a single yard on nine carries up to that point, salvaged his line with a 70-yard score. The junior running back finished with 89 yards on a dozen carries to lead Cypress (1-1).
Corona del Mar created four turnovers defensively in a 21-0 win over Moreno Valley Rancho Verde in the season opener.
“I’m very excited,” said sophomore cornerback Tucker Murray. “Our defense is balling out. … It was just a great defensive effort.”
An all-senior defensive front of nose guard Adin Goldberg and defensive ends Sandro Marignoli and Walter Weed helped limit the Centurions to 9 rushing yards in the first half.
Nashed tacked on a goal-line touchdown pass to senior tight end Zach Giuliano, before being spelled by junior quarterback Brady Annett in the second half. Corona del Mar led 31-0 at halftime.
Annett made the most of his three passing attempts, completing all of them for 86 yards and three touchdowns. That included Stecker’s final touchdown, a 52-yard score on another deep ball. Senior Emori Davis beat a defender up the right sideline for the other touchdown.
Nonleague
Corona del Mar 47, Cypress 14
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Corona del Mar 21 - 10 - 16 - 0 — 47
Cypress 0 - 0 - 0 - 14 — 14
FIRST QUARTER
CdM — Stecker 4 pass from Nashed (DiBella kick), 7:45.
CdM — Stecker 28 pass from Nashed (DiBella kick), 3:11.
CdM — Lucas 31 run (DiBella kick), 0:38.
SECOND QUARTER
CdM — DiBella 27 FG, 6:10.
CdM — Giuliano 4 pass from Annett (DiBella kick), 4:06.
THIRD QUARTER
CdM — Safety (Snap through end zone), 11:34.
CdM — Stecker 52 pass from Annett (Lawton kick), 10:07.
CdM — Davis 25 pass from Annett (Lawton kick), 4:06.
FOURTH QUARTER
C — Busbee 70 run (Batsaras kick), 9:05.
C — Baldonado 9 pass from Guerrero (Batsaras kick), 2:56.
INDIVIDUAL RUSHING
CdM — Lucas, 10-70, 1 TD.
C — Busbee, 12-89, 1 TD.
INDIVIDUAL PASSING
CdM — Nashed, 14-19-0, 138, 3 TDs; Annett, 3-3-0, 86, 2 TDs.
C — Guerrero, 2-4-0, 21, 1 TD.
INDIVIDUAL RECEIVING
CdM — Stecker, 7-144, 3 TDs.
C — Baldonado, 2-11, 1 TD.
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