Corona del Mar’s departure opens up the PCL football race

Corona del Mar’s football team moves into the Sunset League this season.

There will be a new football champion in the Pacific Coast League this season.

That’s guaranteed since league power and long-time PCL member Corona del Mar has moved into the Sunset League and been replaced by Portola, making the PCL an all-Irvine league.

CdM, coached first by Scott Meyer and then by Dan O’Shea, dominated this league the last six years, winning five of the last six league crowns.

We’re guessing that most coaches in Irvine weren’t sorry to see the Sea Kings leave. Their departure seems to open up the league race, giving several teams a shot at the title. In the past, it always seemed like CdM was a lock and then the real battle was for second place.

Woodbridge Coach Rick Gibson, for one, said he will miss the match-ups with the Sea Kings. Woodbridge, which finished second to CdM last year, played the Sea Kings tough before losing 41-21 last year. It was the closest of any of the PCL games for CdM. The Sea Kings won their other league games 62-13, 42-3, 56-0 and 70-0.

That isn’t much fun for an opposing squad or their fans.

Gibson said, however:

“As a football coach, I always liked our competition vs. CdM because for at least the last six years, they’ve been the class of the league. It was always really fun to try and get and be at the level they were at. Though we didn’t beat them in the (last) six years we played hard and gave them very competitive games.

“I always looked forward to that and the coaching staff at Corona del Mar, they’re a class act. I will miss that and the comraderie we had with them.”

As far as Portola coming in, Gibson said:

“I think Peter Abe (head coach) is one of the best young coaches around and I’m sure they will pick up where Corona del Mar left. The last releaguing time, Corona del Mar stayed with us and you deal with what you deal with. In this case, I’m happy that Portola is with us.

“They should be in that they’re an Irvine and city district school. So that will be fun. It will add another rivalry, But as far as losing Corona del Mar, it’s not what people think. I’m all for playing top notch competition.”

Irvine coach Erik Terry views Corona del Mar’s departure a bit differently.

“Corona del Mar has done an outstanding job of elevating their football program to another level over the past eight years.” he said. “Their talent pool combined with excellent coaching extended the gap between them and the other schools in our league. We wish Coach (Dan) O’Shea and the Sea Kings well in the Sunset League.

“For us at Irvine High School their departure makes us really feel like we have a chance to compete for a league championship.”

Former CdM coach Meyer, who coached at Servite and is now head coach at University expected the Sea Kings to be moved out of the PCL.

“There wasn’t much surprise. Even back in 2014, my last year, there was already talk of CdM moving into the Sunset League,” Meyer said. “I wasn’t really surprised that it happened. And it’s kind of perfect timing with Portola fielding their first varsity football team this year and all the schools being right here in Irvine and Beckman being kind of on the order it made a lot of sense.”

It could open up the league title chase.

“Woodbridge has probably been the next best team so they would probably be the team to beat right now, but it definitely gives the league a lot more balance,” Meyer said. “If you look at the scores from last year and you take CdM out of the equation, I think it will be a pretty competitive and balanced league.”

Meyer said he enjoyed coaching in the PCL.

“It was fun,” he said. “In my first year at CdM, the Woodbridge game came down to the wire and our Northwood game was close. Beckman, we lost to them in league that first year and after that, we were able to separate ourselves a little bit. But we always had some competitive games in each of those years in the PCL.”

Overall, it seems to be the right move. Corona del Mar is well prepared to compete in the rugged Sunset League. The Sea Kings are picked No. 6 in the OC Varsity pre-season poll.

“I think they’re going to do real well,” Meyer said. “They’ve got a really talented team.”

Fans may be disappointed to see some of the other league rivalries end in other sports.

Beckman and CdM have had some classic baseball games over the years. Woodbridge and Northwood have had some good ones too against the Sea Kings.

John Emme’s CdM baseball team has always played hard and played the game the right way. The team is now coached by former University coach Kevin McCaffrey.

There have been some memorable basketball games too. Who can ever forget the memorable Northwood-Corona del Mar games which had buzzer-beater finishes? Ryan Schachter always fielded entertaining and talented CdM teams. Woodbridge and University had some exciting PCL battles too with the Sea Kings.

But, it’s time for change and new challenges. We’re guessing football fans in Irvine will approve.

Let us know what you think!