NEWPORT BEACH — Corona del Mar quarterback Kaleb Annett completed 20 of 29 passes for 203 yards and three touchdowns and ran for two touchdowns as the Sea Kings defeated Paraclete of Lancaster 40-21 in a CIF SS Division 4 first-round playoff game Thursday at Newport Harbor High School.
The Sea Kings (6-5) will play the winner of Friday’s St. Paul-Santa Barbara matchup in the second round. They will play on the road regardless of the outcome.
“We played clean tonight,” Sea Kings coach Kevin Hettig said. “This was kind of our big focus this week, was connecting all three phases. We played excellent special teams tonight. We played excellent defense tonight. We played very good offense tonight. We’ve just got to stay connected on those three phases.”
Corona del Mar also had good field position for nearly every drive, starting seven of 10 drives from its own 40 or better and never started a drive inside its 30.
While the Sea Kings didn’t score on every drive, they were able to pin the Spirits (7-4) deep in their own territory several times on punts.
Paraclete started only one drive beyond its own 20.
The teams traded touchdowns in the first quarter before the Sea Kings took a 13-7 lead into halftime on Annett’s 29-yard touchdown pass to Russell Weir in the second quarter.
The Sea Kings quickly gained momentum early in the third quarter.
After CdM received the second-half kickoff, Annett connected with running back Wyatt Lucas for a 15-yard touchdown to pull the Sea Kings ahead by two scores.
On the ensuing kickoff, Corona del Mar caught the Spirits off guard with an onside kick, which Michael Lynch recovered in Paraclete territory.
A personal foul penalty against the Spirits gave the Sea Kings possession on the Paraclete 32 and five plays later, Annett ran for a 20-yard touchdown to put Corona del Mar ahead 26-7.
“He finally popped one in,” Hettig said. “It was nice to see that on a little longer run. He’s a pretty explosive athlete when he gets it going.”
The Sea Kings were close to putting the game out of reach when Annett capped a 45-yard drive with a 1-yard touchdown run to make the score 32-7 with 10 minutes remaining in the game.
Paraclete quarterback Tyler Soles ran for a 20-yard touchdown and threw a 9-yard touchdown pass to Mister Burnside in the first quarter.
Soles completed 17 of 29 passes for 203 yards and a touchdown.
“it’s a great team win,” Annett said. “It started at the beginning of the week when we wanted to make a run at this thing. We’re a playoff-type team and we’re going to show that. But it was a great team win. We were connected on all three sides of the game.”
