Expect Laguna Hills to move closer to the top spot and CdM to move down next week. The Hawks are on their way to defending their league and section crowns.
Pound for pound, the Hawks (4-2, 1-0 in league) showed one of last year’ semifinalists that they’re the favorites again. The Hawks pounded the Sea Kings (4-2, 0-1), controlling the clock and taking a 20-0 lead at halftime.
“They were just more physical than us,” CdM Coach Jason Hitchens said. “You can’t really say much more than that.”
The first 23 plays from scrimmage for Laguna Hills featured all runs. The team’s first pass attempt came with 8 minutes, 21 seconds left in the second quarter. On a third-and-three, the pass went to a running back for nine yards and a first down.
The rest of the way, Laguna Hills didn’t have to throw again. For some reason, they used four quarterbacks.
Each quarterback must have got tired of handing the ball off so much. Smash-mouth football proved to be too much for CdM to handle as it dropped its fourth straight game to the Hawks.
The Sea Kings had no one to offset Matt Martindale’s 137-yard, four-touchdown performance on 14 carries. Coupled that with running back J.D. Abbott out with an injured left ankle, CdM was hurting from the start.
In the opening quarter, the Sea Kings managed seven yards on offense in a little more than two minutes with the ball. The visitors totaled 144 yards and led, 14-0, after two Martindale touchdowns.
Hitchens expected CdM to face a heavy dose of runs.
