• Another big reason Calvary was able to run 18 more plays than Estancia (3-7, 1-3 in league), was its ability to keep the chains moving.
Calvary converted eight of 12 third-down opportunities. And three of the four times it failed, it converted on the subsequent fourth down.
• After beating Los Alamitos, Brinkley said he had no control over who would represent the league in the playoffs (pending Friday’s game).
“We had to take care of our end,” Brinkley said Thursday. “I’m so proud of these guys.”
The Sailors rallied after starting league play with two close losses to Edison and Fountain Valley. They finished the season with three straight wins.
• Corona del Mar, which finished second in league and is the No. 2 seed in the CIF Southern Section Southern Division playoffs, has largely avoided serious injuries this season.
The Sea Kings, however, lost sophomore free safety Will Morrow for the season with a torn meniscus in the Oct. 24 game against Irvine.
Ever since, Hitchens said a committee has been used to play the safety spot, including senior Tyler Haly, Molnar and senior Andrew Hicks.
• Lansdell said all the time his offense spent on the field produced one tired unit. He said he called at least one timeout in the fourth quarter just to give his offense a rest.
“We were tired,” said Lansdell, who kept a particularly close watch on senior running back Scott Matsuda. Matsuda, who carried 32 times for 185 yards, might have had more, had he not had to take breaks due to being a diabetic.
“We were monitoring his blood sugar on the sideline all night,” Lansdell said.
• CdM’s 288 points in 10 games are a regular-season school record. But the Sea Kings still have some work to do to break the school single-season record of 366 set in 1995.
— From staff reports
