Murphy Carries Corona del Mar

NEWPORT BEACH — The ploy was as simple as it gets--and wonderfully effective.

When everything else failed, Corona del Mar High School figured all it had to do was hand the ball to senior running back Kevin Murphy and see if the Costa Mesa defense could stop him.

The Sea Kings figured right.

Murphy scored on runs of one, 22 and four yards as Corona del Mar defeated Costa Mesa in a nonleague game, 21-0, Thursday night at Newport Harbor High.

It was the third consecutive victory for the defending Southern Section Division VI champions, who improved their record to 3-2. Costa Mesa dropped to 2-3.

After a defensive struggle in a scoreless first quarter, the Sea Kings put together a 14-play, 53-yard drive that consumed about half of the second quarter but was almost stalled by two penalties.

But after a 17-yard pass play from junior quarterback Todd Kehrli to senior wide receiver Steve Bacon on third and 19 from the Costa Mesa 30, Murphy carried the ball four times in a row and culminated the drive with his first touchdown of the night with 5 minutes 1 second remaining before halftime.

His second score was set up when John McClure intercepted Mustang quarterback Ryan McEvoy’s fourth-quarter pass at the Costa Mesa 43 and returned it to the Mustang 22. Murphy did the rest on the first play from scrimmage for a 14-0 lead.

A bad snap by Costa Mesa on an attempted punt from deep in its territory gave the ball to the Sea Kings at the six-yard line with 4:47 left to play. Six plays later, Murphy was in the end zone again.

The Mustangs missed their best scoring opportunity after Corona del Mar’s second touchdown, when Duby Ospina took the ensuing kickoff and ran it 73 yards to the Sea King 15. But Costa Mesa couldn’t get the ball into the end zone.