Sea Kings run over Estancia

Rick Devereux

The Corona del Mar High football team did not miss the absence of

two-time All-Pacific Coast League wide receiver Kevin Welch in its

35-14 nonleague victory over cross-town rival Estancia Friday night

at Newport Harbor High.

Welch, who caught a team-high 28 passes a year ago, sat out the

season opener due to a lingering groin injury. Also on the sidelines

was last year’s No. 2 receiving threat, Shane Collins, who was

nursing a back injury. Collins had 275 receiving yards and two

touchdowns last year for the Sea Kings.

With the top two aerial targets not in action, Coach Dick

Freeman’s team exploded for nearly 450 yards on the ground.

“We did not run more because Kevin wasn’t in the game,” Freeman

said. “We’re going to run the ball this year, and when you’re running

this well, why stop?”

Senior Wess Presson gained a career-high 178 yards on 14 carries

with two touchdowns.

Austin Brawner rushed for 104 yards on 12 carries, and quarterback

Tom Welch just missed giving the Sea Kings three triple-digit

rushers, finishing with 91 yards on 13 attempts with one score.

Following an interception by Brawner in the first quarter, CdM put

together a six-play drive that covered 52 yards, finalized by a

1-yard TD plunge by Presson.

The CdM defense forced a three-and-out, and the offense marched 75

yards to extend the lead to 14-0. The highlight of the drive was a

51-yard rush by Presson, as he broke several tackles and was tripped

up at the 1-yard line by a diving Eagle defender.

Brett Crowley scored on the next play.

The Sea Kings scored in the second quarter on a 9-yard Presson

plunge.

At the end of the first half, CdM put together another drive and

was going to attempt a 44-yard field goal, but the holder had to

scramble away from the rush and tried to throw the ball away. The

ball slipped out of his hands and into the waiting arms of Estancia’s

Clayton Mills, who picked up the fumble and raced 47 yards for the

score to cut the lead to 21-7.

Estancia started senior Nick Cox at quarterback in the second half

and ran several rollout pass plays to give him extra time from the

relentless Sea Kings pass rush. CdM junior Matt Burgner tallied three

of the team’s six sacks.

Moving Cox out of the pocket helped the Eagle offense gain 125

yards in the second half, compared to 55 in the first.

“I wanted to get a look at all three [quarterbacks],” Estancia

Coach Craig Fertig said. “But I wasn’t able to get [sophomore] Tim

Morley in the game.”

With Cox rolling out, Freeman switched to a three-man defensive

front.

“We could bring in linebackers [on the blitz] to stop their

sprintouts,” Freeman said. “They were able to contain our ends, so we

had to switch it up a little.”

But as the Eagles were unable to score through the air, CdM

continued to run into the end zone.

Early in the fourth quarter, Crowley scored his second rushing

touchdown of the game, this time from 9 yards out. Gutsy play calling

by Freeman kept the drive alive when faced with a fourth-and-five,

Welch gained 14 yards on a quarterback draw.

The defense forced another three-and-out, giving the ball back to

CdM with 8:34 left in the game and a 28-7 lead. The Sea Kings tried

to run the clock down, but the running game was so effective Welch

scored on a 30-yard bootleg.

The Eagles put together a 74-yard drive to finalize the scoring,

capped by Bryce McKendry’s 5-yard run.

The Eagles recovered the ensuing onside kick, but it was too

little, too late for Fertig and Estancia.

“I thought our team played well,” he said.