Sea Kings’ title hopes still alive

Rick Devereux

The Corona del Mar High football team is looking to regroup and

resume its winning ways following a 27-14 Pacific Coast League loss

to Northwood Friday.

It will not be an easy task for the Sea Kings (4-3, 1-1 in

league), who face Tesoro (5-2, 2-0) Friday at Newport Harbor High at

7 p.m.

The Titans, ranked No. 2 in CIF Southern Section Division IX, lead

the league in points scored (278) and have the second-most prolific

passer, rusher and receiver in the league.

Quarterback Nick Nelson has thrown for more than 1,100 yards. Only

University’s Steve Crooks, who has close to 1,400 yards, has passed

for more yards this season.

Running back Evan Handa has close to 710 rushing yards. CdM’s Wess

Presson leads the league with 788 rushing yards and eight touchdowns.

Receiver Scott McNight has close to 35 receptions for more than

480 yards. Northwood’s Sean Curtis has more than 590 receiving yards

to pace all league counterparts in that category.

The multiple weapons have CdM Coach Dick Freeman concerned.

“They actually have three really good running backs and [Erik

Hamren] is one of the best tight ends in the league,” he said. “We

need to play good defense and hold onto the ball on offense [in order

to win].”

The Titans will run mostly a single-back offense, but they use a

blocking back more than most teams CdM will face.

“They run more [I-formation] than Northwood did,” Freeman said.

“And they use a fullback about 30% of the time, which is more than

anyone else in the league.”

Freeman said he isn’t too concerned about the defensive effort the

Sea Kings will stage. CdM opponents have averaged 19.7 points per

game.

“We’ve been defending the ball well all year,” Freeman said.

“We’ve just made big mistakes and turnovers [in our losses].”

The Sea Kings have turned the ball over five times in their four

wins compared to eight turnovers in the three losses. That is one

reason why Freeman said holding on to the ball is a key to victory.

Another reason is that the longer CdM has the ball, the less time

Tesoro’s offense has to work. In the last two losses, Sea King

opponents have won the time-of-possession battle by an average of

more than 4 minutes, 30 seconds.

A win is critical for the Sea Kings to keep their CIF playoff goal

within reach.

“If we beat Tesoro we will be in a three-way tie for first [with

Northwood],” Freeman said. “We are still working for a league

championship. If we lose this one, we are almost guaranteed a

third-place finish at best.”