Villa Park

IRVINE - Jason Cassidy shot a 6-over 78, for Estancia High's boys golf team in Wednesday's 412-467 season-opening nonleague loss to Villa Park at Strawberry Farms Golf Course, par 72. Wednesday's action was a continuation of a nine-hole match between the two schools played at Mesa Verde Country Club. The back nine was played at Strawberry Farms. Todd Saukkola tied Cassidy for top score with a 78 for Villa Park. NONLEAGUE Villa Park 412, Estancia 467 Villa Park - Saukkola 78, Hynes 80, Knight 84, Cohn 84, Hurley 86. Estancia - Cassidy 78, Mueller 89, Rausch 98, Baker 99, Razo, Franklin 103 each.

SCORE BY QUARTERS Villa Park 7 0 3 0 - 10 CdM 0 7 0 14 - 21 FIRST QUARTER VP -- Munoz 20 run (Jorgenson kick), 6:37. SECOND QUARTER CdM -- E. Rask 3 run (Albright kick), 0:44. THIRD QUARTER VP -- Jorgenson 37 FG, 1:19. FOURTH QUARTER CdM -- Hillgren 82 pass from Alder (Albright kick), 5:04. CdM -- E. Rask 53 run (Albright kick)

CORONA DEL MAR - Corona del Mar High's girls water polo team limited Villa Park's offense. But the Spartans, ranked No. 4 in CIF Southern Section Division I, completely shut down the host Sea Kings' offense for a 3-1 win in the Irvine Southern California Championships Friday. CdM, 13-10 and ranked No. 4 in Division IV, will face Canyon in the 13th place semifinal at Irvine, 9 a.m. Except for UCLA-bound two-meter player Krystan Pulver, who scored twice in the second half, Villa Park (17-5)

Barry Faulkner NEWPORT BEACH - The formula is simple. Executing Coach Jeff Brinkley's not-so-secrets to success, however, can be somewhat more difficult when played out on the fading, dew-covered grass of late November, rather than the comfort of a locker room chalk talk. The Sailors, however, are sticking to the plan -- run the ball, take care of the ball and stop the run -- this season and the results have been, well, almost perfect. The equation produced a 35-16 victory over visiting Villa Park Friday night in the CIF Southern Section Division VI quarterfinals.

CORONA DEL MAR — On the schedule, the matchup appeared merely as a first-round home game against Villa Park in the Beach Pit Classic. But for the Corona del Mar High baseball team, the game meant so much more. Here was the Sea Kings’ chance to prove their resiliency. CdM Coach John Emme was interested to see how his players would respond from such a disappointing loss Thursday. The Sea Kings answered a crushing loss just the way Emme wanted, with a sound performance and a 3-1 victory Saturday at CdM. There wasn’t much to say after the Sea Kings lost, 6-5, in eight innings to visiting Beckman, the defending Pacific Coast League champion that is ranked No. 1 in the CIF Southern Section Division III coaches’ poll.

ORANGE — Recently during a pro football game, Coach Dick Freeman heard something that struck a chord. How do you handle playing two quarterbacks? Corona del Mar High began the year with its quarterbacks splitting time, but that changed as fast as Freeman changed the channel. “If you’ve got two quarterbacks it means you don’t have one,” said Freeman, taking the announcer’s advice to heart. “You can’t keep switching back.” The Sea Kings might have to after losing to a once winless program and seeing their offense sputter.

GOLETA — “No, no, no, no,” Newport Harbor High girls’ water polo coach Bill Barnett said to senior goalie Morgan Vickers midway through the Sailors’ first-round game at the Santa Barbara Tournament of Champions on Friday. Vickers had just made an apparently not-Barnett-approved pass in the middle of the pool to sophomore teammate Kate Klippert. But she was quick with a counter to her coach, reminding him that at least the pass was technically sound.

For Corona del Mar High (2-4), last week’s 21-6 loss to Villa Park laid bare some issues that must be corrected for the Sea Kings to be competitive when Pacific Coast League play begins against Beckman this week. The Spartans’ victory — Villa Park was winless this season before Friday, and lost all but one game last season in Century League play — marked the third time this season that CdM has scored only once during a contest. The Sea Kings’ running game has been hot and cold, and while JD Abbott, Tyler Harmon, and Austin Raiger did well against South El Monte, the trio was limited to just 45 yards rushing against the Spartans.

SAN CLEMENTE — Corona del Mar High can add another CIF Southern Section championship banner inside its gym full with section titles. The latest will be for boys' golf. The Sea Kings' perfect season keeps getting sweeter as they claimed the CIF Southern Section South Coast Team Divisional title on Monday, shooting a three-over-par 363 at Talega Golf Club. Coach Mike Starkweather said the section crown is the boys' golf program's first since 1967. "When you look at the gym at Corona del Mar, where they don't acknowledge league championships like they do at most high schools, you can only get a banner up for winning a section, state or national championship," Starkweather said.

BOYS' TENNIS Sage Hill 10, Newport Harbor 8 NEWPORT BEACH - Robbe Simon swept at No. 1 singles, 6-4, 4-0, 6-0, to help lead the Lightning to the nonleague win Monday at The Tennis Club Newport Beach. The No. 1 doubles team of Alex Manolakas and Eric Magliarditi also swept, 6-1, 6-2, 6-0, for Sage Hill (2-5). Reese Stalder (No. 1) and Chase Rados (No. 2) each won twice in singles for Newport Harbor (3-4). "We finally had some decent weather and some good tennis.

VILLA PARK — Erik Oatman grew up in one of the most affluent cities in Orange County: Newport Beach. On Tuesday evening, he stood with hundreds of protesters in another Orange County affluent community, Villa Park, condemning what they say were words of bigotry and hatred against Muslims by a member of the City Council there. Oatman, 24, joined his sister, Annalise, brothers Scott and Brett, and two friends at Villa Park's City Hall to denounce what Councilwoman Deborah Pauly said in February outside of a Muslim charity in Yorba Linda.

CORONA DEL MAR — On the schedule, the matchup appeared merely as a first-round home game against Villa Park in the Beach Pit Classic. But for the Corona del Mar High baseball team, the game meant so much more. Here was the Sea Kings’ chance to prove their resiliency. CdM Coach John Emme was interested to see how his players would respond from such a disappointing loss Thursday. The Sea Kings answered a crushing loss just the way Emme wanted, with a sound performance and a 3-1 victory Saturday at CdM. There wasn’t much to say after the Sea Kings lost, 6-5, in eight innings to visiting Beckman, the defending Pacific Coast League champion that is ranked No. 1 in the CIF Southern Section Division III coaches’ poll.

Costa Mesa-based Experian has announced the winners of the 2009 Heart of Experian Junior Elite Awards, which acknowledge the children of the company?s employees that have shown exceptional scholastic achievement in the 2008-2009 school year. This year, 55 students will be receiving a $200 savings bond from the Heart of Experian in recognition of their accomplishments. Each year, the program accepts applications and selects winners for the Junior Elite Awards. Applications are scored objectively taking into consideration academic performance, extra curricular activities, scholastic achievements and an essay response.

The first day of the California State High School Water Polo Championships turned out to be a perfect one for Newport Harbor High and Corona del Mar Friday. The boys’ and girls’ teams from the local schools won two matches each to stay atop their respective groups. The Newport Harbor boys, the top-seeded team, dominated in their two games. They opened with a 20-5 win against Laguna Beach and then recorded a 15-7 win against JSerra at Newport Harbor. Newport Harbor continues today, trying to win its group and reach the quarterfinals at 3 p.m. at the Sailors’ pool.

GIRLS’ WATER POLO Corona del Mar 9, Laguna Beach 8 Sudden death CORONA DEL MAR — Senior Heather Van Hiel scored with 1:10 left in the first sudden-death overtime period to lead the Sea Kings (26-1) to the nonleague win Friday. Senior Elise Molnar scored her third goal with 22 seconds left in regulation to send the game into overtime. In the second overtime period, senior Victoria Kennedy notched her third goal to tie the game, 8-8, with 2:26 left.

When/where: Tonight, 7, at Newport Harbor High Key Sea Kings: Sr. QB Mitch Sands (36 for 70 passing, 438 yards, 10 TDs and one interception); Jr. TB J.D. Abbott (54 carries, 474 rushing yards, four TDs); Sr. WR Max Haase (14 catches, 109 yards, three TDs). Key Spartans: Jr. DE Steven Fieeiki (10 tackles for loss, two sacks); Sr. RB Jacob Alvarado (58 carries, 257 rushing yards, two TDs); Sr. WR Parker Roberts. Breakdown: First-year Corona del Mar High Coach Jason Hitchens knows all about the Spartans’ personnel, having worked as Villa Park’s defensive coordinator last season and through some of the summer, before taking over at CdM ... Hitchens must have taught the Spartans well, as they have limited opponents to a little more than 11 points per game thus far, including just 15 points combined the last two weeks in victories ... CdM is ranked No. 4 in the CIF Southern Section Southern Division, three spots behind Laguna Hills, against which the Sea Kings open Pacific Coast League play next week ... Hitchens said senior nose Dan DiChiro and senior linebacker Tyler Haly should both return after missing time with injuries.