John David Annett’s late score keeps CdM’s perfect record intact
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John David Annett has a “legacy” to uphold, a standard to meet and perhaps surpass, understands what that really means and the inherent responsibilities, and that’s got a lot to do with Corona del Mar’s late comeback victory in Thursday’s showdown of unbeaten powerhouses.
The Sea Kings completed another perfect nonleague campaign, their second in succession and fourth in eight seasons, by rallying from two fourth-quarter deficits — greatly through Annett, his receivers and a timely, resilient defense — for a 30-24 triumph over visiting Whittier La Serna at Newport Harbor’s Davidson Field.
Annett, starting at quarterback for just the second time at any level of the game, completed a four-touchdown night — two through the air — on an 8-inch, fourth-down push with 65 seconds to go, the final strike in a wild final eight and a half minutes.
It went almost as scripted.
“That’s exactly how I thought that game was gonna go,” said CdM head coach Kevin Hettig, whose team heads into its bye week ahead of the Bravo League openers. “It was gonna be a four-quarter dogfight, and it was.”
La Serna (4-1), a Division 5 semifinalist last year, offered CdM (5-0) its stiffest pre-league test — and vice-versa. Combined, the programs have won nine CIF Southern Section and State Bowl titles and played in another nine finals the past 15 seasons, and the Lancers pitted their 52-points-per-game attack against a defense conceding 23 total points through four games. It could have gone either way.
“We knew we were circled on their schedule,” said Nolan Scott, who caught a go-ahead touchdown and critical two-point conversion and collected the fumble that led to a first-quarter touchdown. “We knew it was gonna be a tough one coming into it, but we battled.”
Annett, a junior who started the campaign as Luca DiNapoli’s backup but grabbed the starting job with strong performances off the bench against Edison and in his debut start against Newport Harbor, completed 23 of 38 passes for 290 yards. He hit Scott for gains of 19 and 17 yards and Dylan Paolone for a third-down conversion on the winning drive. He connected with seven receivers, Scott seven times for 118 yards, Tucker Murray five times for 54 yards with a first-quarter touchdown, and JJ Haley four times for 76 yards.
It was an outing worthy of an Annett. John David follows brothers Kaleb, a redshirt sophomore at Central Florida, and Brady, a freshman at Eastern Washington, at the helm of the CdM attack. They combined for 8,014 yards and 89 touchdowns over the past five campaigns.
“I’ve got to finish the legacy,” John David said. “I’ve just got to play quarterback here. It’s something my brothers really wanted me to do. I [watched] Brady running around the field and making so many plays, and Kaleb was kind of a pocket passer. I take both of them and put it into my play.
“[Achieving what they did] is so important, I have no words. It’s crazy. It’s a surreal feeling.”
The game went back and forth, glacially at first and then at breakneck pace. The Sea Kings were quickly on top, 13-0, on Annett’s 36-yard sprint through an unexpected hole and third-down, 13-yard end-zone toss to Murray.
La Serna, occasionally dropping a double-wing into its spread offense, was ahead, 17-16, after an 80-yard march to start the second half and two defensive stops inside its 40-yard line, the second nearly four minutes into the fourth quarter.
CdM turned two Jordan Bonilla fumbles into touchdowns, the second, after Troy Merriman’s recovery on the Lancers’ 6-yard line. Annett found Scott in the end zone three plays later for, after the two-point attempt fell incomplete, a 22-17 advantage. The lead lasted barely 90 seconds.
La Serna quarterback Grady Long quickly connected with fellow All-CIF selection Landon Armenta for 31 yards and then hit Alex Gaytan down the left sideline for a 42-yard score and 24-22 edge with 4:54 to play. Long threw for a career-best 347 yards, 221 of that on nine Armenta receptions. Half of his 12 completions went for 30 yards or more.
“My mindset was I got to put the team on my back,” Annett said. “I mean, these dudes play so hard, and I just got to do something to figure out to get a win.”
He hit Scott for the 19-yard gain, and Trejan Nixon ran twice for 15 yards to get inside the La Serna 40. The completion to Paolone took the Sea Kings to the 30-yard line, Holden Perisi rushed to the 25, and Scott followed with a catch at the 8. Two Nixon runs took it to the 1-yard line, and Annett was stopped just shy of the goal line on third down.
Hettig thought about bringing out Chuck Naylor for another field goal and the lead — he booted a 35-yard kick in the second quarter — but knew La Serna kicker Evan Vesper had 40-yard-plus range.
“We kind of asked our kids, ‘Guys, can we get an inch?’” Hettig said. “And they would have killed me if we tried to kick.”
Annett hit Scott for two points after his plunge, and the Sea Kings’ defense held on as La Serna drove to their 23-yard line in the final seconds.
“Going to the bye week with this is awesome,” Hettig said. “We’re ready for that bye week, but we got a lot of stuff to clean up, and we kind of need to get healthy and get right. And then we have the Bravo League, which is a chore in itself.”
Nonleague
Corona del Mar 30, La Serna 24
SCORE BY QUARTERS
La Serna 7 - 3 - 7 - 7 — 24
Corona del Mar 13 - 3 - 0 - 14 — 30
FIRST QUARTER
CdM — Annett 36 run (kick failed), 6:09.
CdM — Murray 13 pass from Annett (Naylor kick), 3:08.
LS — D. Moreno 74 pass from Long (Vesper kick), 2:53.
SECOND QUARTER
LS — Vesper 23 FG, 2:11.
CdM — Naylor 35 FG, 0:04.
THIRD QUARTER
LS — Nuñez 1 run (Vesper kick), 3:08.
FOURTH QUARTER
CdM — Scott 4 pass from Annett (pass failed), 6:33.
LS — Gaytan 42 pass from Long (Vesper kick), 4:54.
CdM — Annett 1 run (Scott pass from Annett), 1:05.
INDIVIDUAL RUSHING
LS — Bonilla, 10-43; Long, 6-18; D. Moreno, 6-10; Quinones, 3-10; Huerta, 2-2; Nuñez, 1-1, 1 TD.
CdM — Nixon, 18-51; Annett, 7-31, 2 TDs; Perisi, 1-5.
INDIVIDUAL PASSING
LS — Long, 12-22-1, 347, 2 TDs.
CdM — Annett, 23-38-0, 290, 2 TDs.
INDIVIDUAL RECEIVING
LS — Armenta, 9-221; D. Moreno, 2-83, 1 TD; Gaytan, 1-42, 1 TD.
CdM — Scott, 7-118, 1 TD; Murray, 5-59, 1 TD; Haley, 4-76; Paolone, 3-25; Nixon, 2-4; Costa, 1-6; Herrera, 1-4.
