CdM football team back on track after injuries and mid-season ‘reset’

Coach Dan O’Shea leads the Sea Kings into Friday’s game. (File photo: OC Sports Zone, Fernando M. Donado).

Corona del Mar High School’s football team is starting to get healthy again, which should help the Sea Kings as they head into their final three Sunset League games, including Friday’s game at Huntington Beach.

Both CdM and Huntington Beach are 5-2 overall and 1-1 in Sunset League play.

Corona del Mar is coming off a 49-14 loss to Los Alamitos last week at Newport Harbor. The Sea Kings opened league play with a 42-7 win over Fountain Valley.

After winning three in a row to start the season, CdM lost to San Clemente 23-6 on Sept. 9.

“It’s been an unusual year battling injuries,” said CdM Coach Dan O’Shea. “We had nine starters out in games three, four and five and finished 4-1 in non-league losing to San Clemente.”

The season-ending knee injuries to Trent Merriman and running back Evan Sanders were critical and O’Shea said the two were “impossible to replace as we consider them two of the very best in the county.

“But we have adapted and are thriving with some new guys getting an opportunity to fulfill big roles: running back Colin Pene, tight end Zack Giuliano, offensive and defensive lineman Zack Shannak and linebacker and outside lineman Brady Sarkisian.”

Safety Hunter Gouvion is also out after sustaining and injury in the fifth game, O’Shea said.

In addition, starting quarterback David Rasor sustained a sprained ankle against Los Gatos and was replaced by “Kaleb Annett who was scheduled to play regularly all season anyways, started games three, four, five and was excellent,” O’Shea said.

Five other injured players are week to week, O’Shea said.

But Rasor is back and the Sea Kings are looking to make a big run in the final weeks of league play and then in the CIF playoffs.

“We took the bye week and had to reset the whole program culture,” O’Shea said. “We were feeling bad for ourselves and I was a bad leader for the team.

“After the reset, the Sea Kings you know are back. We played excellent vs. Fountain Valley and battled our butts off to have a 21-14 score vs Los Al going into the fourth quarter. The final score was not indicative of how well we played vs that all-star team. 

“We have gotten back four of the injured guys the last couple weeks and feel like we are primed to play our best ball when it counts: October and November.”

CdM has two more league games after this week: Friday, Oct. 21 vs. Newport Harbor (Newport Harbor is the home team) and Friday, Oct. 28 vs. Edison at Newport Harbor.

—Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone; timburt@ocsportszone.com