Corona del Mar Dismantles Breakers, 41-14, and Advances to Title Game

Corona del Mar ended Laguna Beach’s Cinderella season and earned a trip to the CIF-Southern Section's Southern Division championship game against an old foe with its 41-14 victory over the Breakers on Friday night at Guyer Field on the campus of Laguna Beach High.

The Sea Kings (11-2) will face Pacific Coast League rival Beckman (11-2), which defeated Estancia, 57-21, in Friday's division title game at Orange Coast College. Kickoff is 7:30 p.m.

Corona del Mar and Beckman tangled in the semifinals last season, with the Patriots ending the Sea Kings’ playoff run. The two have also traded league titles over the past two years, with Beckman winning this year and Corona del Mar taking the title in 2010.

The teams seemed destined for one more go-around since a wild 42-37 Beckman victory in the final league game of the regular season on Nov. 11. Corona del Mar fell behind big before rallying to nearly pull off a huge comeback. This time, they expect no early letdowns.

“Yeah, I can’t wait.… We’re ready,” Sea Kings senior defensive back Frasier Anderson said.

Corona del Mar led Laguna Beach 7-0 after the first quarter, but Anderson gave the Sea Kings a big lift early in the second quarter, when he jumped an out route to intercept a Breakers pass and returned it 20 yards for a touchdown. The point-after kick failed, but the Sea Kings led, 13-0, with 11:03 left in the second quarter.

After holding the Breakers to three plays and a punt on the ensuing possession, the Sea Kings drove 54 yards on seven plays to set up a Brent Lawson one-yard plunge for a touchdown and a 20-0 lead.

The Breakers (10-3), who finished third in the Orange Coast League, were able to answer on the kickoff, when senior Norton Penney handed off for a reverse to junior Robert Clemons, who went 88 yards around the right side for a touchdown to cut the deficit to 20-7.

Late in the second quarter, the Breakers used two big pass plays from junior quarterback Larry Stewart to drive the ball deep into Sea Kings territory. Clemons made a leaping grab for a 28-yard catch on third and 12, and on the next play Stewart hit junior running back Drake Martinez for a 47-yard gain to the Sea Kings' 17-yard line with just under a minute left in the half.

But the Sea Kings' defense stiffened and forced a turnover on downs when the Breakers couldn’t convert a fourth-and-16 from the 23. Laguna Beach was unable to mount any serious threat until a late-game drive in the final minutes that resulted in Larry Stewart's seven-yard scoring pass to Travis Clawson with three seconds left.

The Sea Kings ate up time and yards all evening long with a ground game that got better as the game wore on. Erik Fisher finished with 313 yards.

“Once we started running we just never stopped," Corona del Mar's first-year coach Scott Meyer said. "Erik Fisher sure is a great running back.”

But Laguna Beach made big strides this year, with a junior-laden group of starters. After winning only three games last year, the Breakers compiled the third 10-win season in school history. It was also their deepest run in the playoffs since 1962.

“I’m so proud of them, from where they came from and what they accomplished this year," said veteran coach Mike Churchill, in his first year at the Breakers' helm. "We’re a young football team, they’re going to be back.”

After reaching the semifinals three of the past four years, the Sea Kings have finally broken through to the title game. After reaching the division's championship game last year as an at-large entry into the playoffs, Beckman took the top seed this year and it will be the Sea Kings trying to pull the upset this time.

There won’t be any surprises though, as these teams know each other all too well. “They’re a great football team, big physical and athletic," Meyer said of the Patriots."It’s going to be a heck of a battle.”