San Clemente Comes Out Victorious Against Corona del Mar (2022)

Newport Beach – Davidson Field

Newport Beach – The Corona Del Mar football suffered its first loss of the season, falling to San Clemente 23-6 on Friday at Newport Harbor High School in a battle of two 3-0 teams.

“Corona Del Mar will rally. It was a very difficult first half, but really proud of our kids for the second half,” Sea Kings coach Dan O’Shea said.
After narrowly escaping against Palos Verdes last week despite scoring only 14 points, the Sea Kings faced a daunting Triton defense, which shut out La Costa Canyon last week and had only given up eight points per game through three contests.

The first quarter started out with both teams punting on their opening drives, and it looked as if CdM was going to force a second straight successful punt, but the ball went off one of its players and San Clemente recovered. Eventually, the Tritons cashed in a 1-yard quarterback keeper, giving them a 7-0 lead.
After another punt from the Sea Kings, San Clemente started in their territory and kept its drive going thanks to run plays to Blake Allen. After a big third down completion from Broderick Redden to Thomas Hartnov, Allen rumbled into the endzone for an 11-yard touchdown run to give his team a 14-0 early in the second quarter.

On the Sea Kings’ next drive, Kaleb Annett was having more success finding his receivers for good chunk plays and first downs as he had his team into Triton territory. But an unsportsmanlike penalty turned a third and two into a third and 17, which eventually saw CdM punt.

The Sea Kings forced the Tritons to punt after their defense got a big sack on Redden, as Annett had to drive his team 98 yards down the field. The drive looked promising as Annett found his favorite receiver Cooper Hoch for timely catches, but was eventually picked off by Brad Gerken, who returned it the CdM 32.
Five plays later, Redden hit Hartonov for a 16-yard touchdown pass, as San Clemente eventually went into halftime up 20-0 after the missed extra point. The Sea Kings were shutout in the first half for the first half for the first time since September 11, 2015.

CdM utilized the most of getting the ball to start the second half, as they completed a drive which almost ate up two-thirds of the third quarter, as it was capped off by Colin Pene rushing in for a three-yard score. The Extra point was blocked, as the Tritons led 20-6.

The Sea Kings were shutout the rest of the way, as San Clemente’s defense made sure to prevent Hoch from finding the endzone for the first time this season.
The Tritons answered CdM’s long drive with a longer drive of their own, as their drive, which lasted a little over eight minutes, was capped off by a 21-yard field goal, boosting their lead to 23-6.

After a facemask penalty on San Clemente during the kickoff, the Sea Kings started their drive on the San Clemente 48. But a fumble caused by Owen Bolliger and recovered by Nolan Reid gave the ball right back to the Tritons.

From there, the Tritons made sure to control the clock and despite giving the ball back to the Sea Kings, they were unable to make a comeback like they did in 2018.

“The second half was more indicative of Corona Del Mar football. I’m really proud of how we responded in the second half,” O’Shea said.
CdM (3-1) will look to bounce back when they play San Juan Hills at home next Thursday at 7 p.m.