Brawner runs wild for Sea Kings

Bryce Alderton

Corona del Mar High’s football team stuck to its game plan from a

week ago, only Friday night it actually produced better results.

Using a fluid ground attack that amassed 314 rushing yards and a

staunch defense that forced five turnovers, the host Sea Kings downed

visiting Troy, 22-7, in a nonleague game at Newport Harbor.

Junior tailback Austin Brawner, who gained just 12 yards on five carries in a Week 1 victory over Costa Mesa, broke loose for 198

yards on 24 carries Friday, including touchdown runs of 5 and 31

yards in the first half. Brawner added a 42-yard jaunt off left

tackle in the fourth quarter.

“When the inside runs weren’t there, I bounced outside,� Brawner

said. “The offensive line stepped up. The holes were the size of

buses.�

Junior tailback Wess Presson gained 86 yards on 16 carries, giving

CdM Coach Dick Freeman two viable options in the backfield.

“We actually did the same thing, only this week it worked,�

Freeman said about CdM’s design to continue counting on the running

game. “We have two good guys in the backfield who make it hard [on

the defense].�

But it was CdM (2-0) that recovered from an initial jolt when

Troy’s leading rusher David Perry raced for a 64-yard touchdown

scamper within the game’s first five minutes to give the visitors an

early 6-0 lead.

Troy’s longest run from the line of scrimmage following Perry’s

burst was 18 yards.

“We fixed our mistakes and played better,� said junior linebacker

Zach Wishengrad, who recovered a fumble on the 1-yard line -- the

second of three CdM takeaways in a scoreless fourth quarter -- as

Troy (1-1) was marching. Sophomore defensive tackle John Fairbanks

forced the fumble.

“We hit them hard and they let [the ball] go,� Wishengrad said.

“They ran a wing offense with a lot of counters and power draws.�

CdM scored 16 of its 22 points in the first half, when it amassed

250 of its 373 yards of total offense. David Del Fante booted a

23-yard field goal to put CdM up for good, 9-7, after a 13-play drive

that ate up five minutes, 25 seconds into the second quarter. Tom

Welch, who went 3 for 7 for 59 yards in his second game at

quarterback, completed a 7-yard out to his brother, Kevin Welch, for

a first down on CdM’s next possession and Brawner ran it in from 31

yards on the next play with 5:01 to go in the half. Junior tight end

Tyler Lance caught one ball for 10 yards while Presson added one

catch for 43 yards.

Tom Welch capped a 7-play drive with an 11-yard TD run for the

game’s final points with 7:10 to go in the third quarter. Welch

rolled to his right and appeared as if he would throw to a receiver

who was all alone in the end zone. But Welch changed directions and

with a key block from junior lineman Armand Lapuz, dove head-first

across the goal line.

“If we improve every week like this, we will be unstoppable,�

Brawner said.