Corona del Mar 35, Serra 27: Pushups, punches, heroes, records and friendships, old and new

NORWALK, Calif. — Corona del Mar (Newport Beach) football coach Dan O'Shea said he greeted every day this season and finished it off the same way. 

"Sixteen push-ups and sixteen sit-ups," said the high-energy coach. "It wasn't just me. It was the entire team."

Sixteen reflected the team's goal — going 16-0 — and after Saturday's highly-charged 35-27 victory over Serra (San Mateo) in the CIF Division 1-A title game at Cerritos College, the Sea Kings could stop with the Jack LaLanne routine. They had done it.

A mindset, a conditioning, the chase for perfection was complete.

They needed another heroic and record-setting effort from Washington-bound quarterback Ethan Garbers to hold off the inspired Padres, and an interception in the end zone by Tommy Griffin with two seconds remaining. But they did it. They ran the table. And O'Shea was squealing with joy, not only because they reached their goal, but because they did it as a community.

"Every kid on the roster is from Newport Beach California and we take so much pride in taking local kids who love each other and die for each because they've been playing together since the second grade," he said. "That's our culture. That's our way."

It helps that a couple of them, at least, are of the caliber of Garbers, a speedy 6-foot-3, 200-pound senior who also has a rifle right arm. He completed 28-of-41 passes for 255 yards and four touchdowns and ran 15 times for 142 yards and another score.

Ten of his completions for 85 yards and a touchdown went to Stanford-bound John Humphreys. Garber spread the ball around beautifully, with Mark Redman and Bradley Schlom (two touchdowns) each had eight catches.

Garbers' four scoring strikes — the last one to Scott Giuliano — gave him 71 on the season, breaking the Southern Section record shared by former MaxPreps Player of the Year JT Daniels, of Mater Dei.

It also made him just the second quarterback in state history to pass for more than 70 touchdowns in a season — the other was Folson's Jake Browning who did it twice. Garbers finished with 5,034 yards passing for the season and 9,461 for his career, all but 262 of those in two seasons. "That's great man," Garbers told the Daily Pilot after the game. "But nothing beats winning the state championship and going 16-0. All of the records and stuff are great, but that state championship is what I had my mind on, and I wasn't going to let up until that happened."

The Sea Kings didn't exactly let up after Humphreys' 7-yard TD catch made it 35-14 with 5:12 remaining. Serra (13-2) simply had its own agenda and own personal stake.

The team's emotional leader and star quarterback Daylin Mclemore, with multiple FBS offers, made an unexpected and heroic start after missing six weeks with a broken collarbone. He was supposedly out for the season.

The team then rallied around athletic but raw sophomore Dominique Lampkin to win league, sectional and regional crowns. But McLemore's mere appearance was more than inspiring to the Padres. He was loyal to the program, a kid O'Shea himself would be proud of. He sat behind a two-year starter and all-Bay Area selection Luke Bottari because he wanted to be Serra's starting quarterback. "He could have started on any other team, but he didn't transfer like a lot of kids do these days," Serra coach Patrick Walsh said. "He bleeds Padre blue"

When McLemore led the Padres on an 80-yard touchdown drive to open the game, capping it with his own 9-yard TD run, it was obvious Serra wasn't messing around. And that McLemore wasn't limited. 

But clearly, the Sea Kings were equally passionate and with Garbers in command, they took a three-touchdown lead. One of the TD drives was a 99-yarder where Garbers threaded the needle on several throws and ran from pressure to pick up big chunks of yards.

""Some of the throws and catches that were made you only see on Sundays," Walsh said. "I wouldn't be surprised if some of those who executed those plays actually do play on Sunday.

"Essentially it was impossible to defend them."

An impassioned game turned heated, and at times ugly, when McLemore was hit late out of bounds early in the fourth quarter. It forced him out of the game. "No major damage," Walsh said. "It was just uncomfortable."

There was a flag on the play, but no punches.

That came a few minutes later when another Sea Kings' player came flying into the Serra bench. Then it got ugly. Punches were thrown. Up to 10 to 15 Padres seemed to be on top of the Corona del Mar player. Quickly, players were pulled off. Order was restored. The referees chose not to kick anyone out of the game, but instead called timeout and had both coaches talk to their teams.

"It was two passionate programs and at that part of the game, neither I or coach O'Shea were proud of," Walsh said. "It was definitely charged."

What did Walsh tell his team?

"What did Warren Buffet say, 'it takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to throw it all away?' I just didn't want this team to be remembered for chaos. I know they were backing up our player, but that's not the point. I ended up being so proud of them overcoming straight teen-age angst to put ourselves back in the game with a chance to win a state championship. That says more about them than anything else that happened in the game itself."

Once back on the field, Walsh turned to his sophomore Lampkin, who suddenly "got all Dom on them," Walsh said. "He was like Superman in cleats."

He led a quick 69-yard scoring drive that took just 1:29 and capped with a 20-yard touchdown pass to super talented Terence Loville (6 catches, 172 yards, two touchdowns), making it 35-20 with 3:43 remaining.

Then, the Padres pulled off a successful onside kick. Lampkin, looking every bit the part of Clark Kent, somehow evades pressure and scrambled for 29 yards. He lost seven on a sack, then completed perhaps the play of the game, again avoiding pressure and flinging the ball 40-yards in the air to the very back of the end zone. There Matt Rollandi, a senior who Walsh had to calm down most during the fracas, somehow kept a foot in while making a leaping grab over a perfectly-positioned defender. Suddenly it was 35-27 with 2:46 left. O'Shea watched helplessly. And he couldn't blame his own kids.

"The credit absolutely goes to (Serra)," he said. "Hats off to them. They are such a gosh-darned well-coached team. We admire the hell out of them."

A second onside kick was recovered by Corona del Mar and all it needed was one first down to put it away. The Padres held and a Garbers punt pinned Serra back to its own 13 with no timeouts and 1:49 remaining.

Lampkin was brilliant. He scrambled for 10 yards and completed six short passes, the last one a 12-yarder to Loville putting the ball at the CDM 20 with 12 seconds left. One pass fell incomplete, then under pressure, his second offering was intercepted by Griffin in the end zone.

No more pushups. The Sea Kings had survived, triumphed and then celebrated.

Through tears, the Padres celebrated as well. Walsh gave them an impassioned and vital speech and later pointed to his two quarterbacks, who demonstrated great courage and resilience. McLemore (16-of-18, 159 yards) and Lampkin (157 total yards, two TDs in 10 minutes) "were both stars," Walsh said. "They were spectacular performances that will never be forgotten."

Same for the game itself, a masterpiece, filled with records, grit, passion and even a few flailed fists, most of them flung into the night. Afterward the coaches embraced.

"He's a first-class guy," Walsh said of O'Shea. "We built a relationship in the last week. We strive to be leaders and for our kids to do the right things. I admitted that our kids made mistakes, and he did the same. I hugged him and told him, 'look, you just won the state championship. Don't worry about it. Let's move on. Congratulations.' "

Said O'Shea: "It's amazing the connection that Patrick Walsh and I made. I admire the heck out of that guy. It's an instant friendship. We'll be friends the rest of our lives because of this game."

And the Sea Kings will be remembered for fulfilling the 16-0 goal in part to talents like Garbers and 6-5, 210-pound Humphreys, two kids guaranteed to play on Saturdays and perhaps Sundays.

"Freak athletes," O'Shea yelled while running to take a championship photo. "And they stayed home and played with their brothers."