Kevin Welch

Barry Faulkner

Long before he was big enough, fast enough, even old enough to

compete between the whistles, Kevin Welch was hauling in passes on

the field at Corona del Mar High football games.

But now a sophomore in his first varsity season, the former Sea

Kings ball boy takes his tosses from the quarterback, not game

officials. And, these days, the notoriety that comes with those

catches extends well beyond the envy of his former junior high

classmates.

Welch caught eight passes for 215 yards and one touchdown Saturday

in the Sea Kings’ 50-8 Pacific Coast League victory over Calvary

Chapel. Both numbers were not only personal single-game bests, but

sent people shuffling through the school record book to see how they

stacked up (George Sumner’s 220 receiving yards in a 1996 game

against Santa Margarita is the only single-game total greater).

They upped the 6-foot-1, 175-pounder’s season stats to 24 catches

for 498 yards, including five TDs, and also earned him recognition as

Daily Pilot Player of the Week.

But despite his satisfying windfall, Welch remains more intent

than content, submerging the selfishness that bonds all standout

receivers beneath his genuine desire to support the greater good of

the team.

“I always want the ball and I get mad when I don’t get it,” Welch

said. “But I don’t say anything I tend to get a little overheated,

sometimes, and every catch sparks me. The more catches I get, the

more I want the ball.”

CdM quarterback Jonathan Hubbard has been more than happy to

oblige, particularly when asked to throw deep.

“We’ve known each other a long time,” Welch said of his older

teammate, who grew up on the same street and is good friends with

Welch’s older brother, senior Bart Welch. “We’ve played with each

other in pickup games over the years and we’ve built a good

relationship. (Hubbard) is always coming up to me, telling me, ‘This

ball is coming to you.’ He has a great arm and he really throws a

nice ball. And when he puts it where I like it, I feel like I’m

always going to catch it.”

A three-sport athlete who played a prominent role on the varsity

volleyball team last spring after playing freshman basketball, Welch

has also shown the ability to catch passes not aimed directly at his

chest.

“He plays the ball well in the air,” CdM Coach Dick Freeman said.

“He has deceptive speed, he’s lanky and he’s a very good athlete. If

you get the ball in his area, he’s going to catch it, even if there’s

a guy from the other team right there.”

Welch, who made in-flight adjustments on a handful of catches

against Calvary Chapel, said his knack for being where the ball comes

down is purely instinctive.

“I just react naturally to the ball,” he said. “When I see it in

the air, I just try to go get it.”

But catching the ball is, Welch believes, merely the beginning.

“As soon as I make a catch, I’m looking for the end zone,” said

Welch, whose touchdowns include catches for 87, 70 and 25 yards and

he also has a 45-yard reception this fall. “I try to stare at the end

zone, run full speed and never look back at anyone trailing me.”

Welch, whose twin brother Tom also starts at receiver and was also

a CdM ball boy, wears the same No. 2 jersey worn by cousin Dennis

Alshuler (a former Newport-Mesa Athlete of the Year who is now a

volleyball player at Princeton), as well as Bart Welch (who has

played varsity football, basketball and volleyball at CdM, but

elected not to play football this season).

Kevin Welch said he and Tom have been watching CdM football since

the mid-1990s and he is well aware of the proud family football

legacy that includes cousins Charlie Alshuler, who played in the 2000

Orange County All-Star Game, and Rob Alshuler.