Sea Kings have reasons to believe

On one hand, Corona del Mar High football Coach Dick Freeman says his team doesn’t boast a ton of speed and won’t outmuscle anyone — usually not a good combination.

Then there’s the fact the Sea Kings lost two of their biggest playmakers on defense in linebacker Shaun Mohler and defensive end Matt Burgner.

Mohler, who is playing at Orange Coast College, led the Sea Kings with 113 tackles last year. Burgner, now playing at Georgetown, collected 36 career sacks in three varsity seasons, a school record. The duo helped the Sea Kings compile a sparkling plus-16 turnover margin last season and will be greatly missed.

On the other hand, CdM’s entire offensive line has varsity experience and the team boasts its share of talented skill players.

Among those returning is first-team All-Pacific Coast League cornerback Steven Hillgren, who had 10 interceptions last season.

While Freeman states that it’s hard to call the Sea Kings the team to beat in the revamped Pacific Coast League, he also says he has a hard-working group with a good attitude that could battle for the league title.

Lets just say there’s reason for optimism among the Corona del Mar faithful, who saw the Sea Kings have an up-and-down season last year before coming on strong at the end and nearly reaching the CIF Southern Section Division IX semifinals.

Here’s a position-by-position look at Sea Kings:

Quarterback: Mater Dei transfer Taylor Hughes is the front-runner for the starting job. Hughes, a 6-foot-2, 176-pound senior, looks to help rejuvenate a passing attack that struggled at times last season, when the tandem of Colin Wigley and Mohler combined to throw for 888 yards.

Freeman said Hughes has good mechanics throwing the ball and is quick enough to run the ball. Hughes was a starter on Mater Dei’s freshman and junior varsity teams.

Freeman is not used to getting football players from powerhouse Mater Dei.

“I’m used to them going the other way,” he said. “I had a kicker come over from Mater Dei a long time ago, but that’s about it.”

Freeman said Hughes has the edge over sophomore Mitch Sands and junior Hunter Alder because of his experience.

“Sands is a little behind Taylor because he’s younger and hasn’t done it as much,” Freeman said.

Alder, who played quarterback as a freshman but didn’t play football his sophomore year, showed good arm strength and accuracy this summer.

“We should be able to throw the ball better than last year,” Freeman said.

Running backs: Senior Tom Folks steps in to try to replace Matt Loyd, now playing for Georgetown.

Loyd rushed for 1,336 yards and 13 touchdowns on 174 carries for CdM last year on his way to first-team All-Pacific Coast League recognition.

Folks had 15 carries for 115 yards and two touchdowns as a backup tailback last year.

Junior Erik Rask (6-1, 185) and senior Charlie Albright could provide a spark in the backfield at either tailback or fullback. Returning senior Austin Ray (6-0, 197) is the front-runner to start at fullback.

“We have good, hard runners,” Freeman said. “We don’t have a lot of speed, but we’re strong and work hard.”

Receivers: Hillgren caught 27 passes for 453 yards and six touchdowns last year as a junior. He could be even more of an impact player on offense this season, especially if Hughes is the real deal at quarterback.

“He’s definitely a playmaker,” Freeman said.

Senior Ford Noe, who saw some time at tight end last season, moves to receiver to complement Hillgren. Noe had one catch for 24 yards last season.

Albright and senior Hunt Rychel could be in the mix as well.

“Rychel is not extremely fast,” Freeman said. “But he catches the ball well and is a good pattern runner.”

Tight end: The situation depends upon whether Noe sticks at receiver. Noe could wind up at tight end again. If not, it paves the way for junior Ali Meshkin (6-4, 196).

Sophomore Will Ham and Sal Tomesello, a transfer from Arizona, could also see time at tight end.

Offensive line: Leading an experienced wall of blockers is senior Arion Lapuz, a second-team All-Pacific Coast League guard last season.

Senior Steven Dean (6-0, 236) returns as the starting center.

Junior Max Prescott (6-3, 228) started at tackle as a sophomore, but a knee injury prematurely ended his season.

Freeman said Prescott suffered a hair-line fracture of his fibula two weeks ago and might miss Friday’s opener at Laguna Beach.

John Joyce (6-7, 240), who stepped in at right tackle last year when Prescott was out, returns for his senior year.

James McKennon, who started last year as a sophomore, returns at guard.

Colby Seymore (6-1, 238) saw considerable action in a reserve role last season and will be in the mix this season.

Juniors Kevin Rask, Steve Deverian and Michael Kidushim also could see time.

“We’re not big, but we have good quickness,” Freeman said. “And we have five or six guys with experience coming back, so that’s a strength.”

Defensive line: Prescott could be the key here when he returns from injury. Freeman is hoping he can contribute up front on both sides of the ball.

Deverian is slated to start at noseguard.

Prescott and senior Jared Mortenson (5-11, 175) could join Deverian as CdM’s three down linemen.

Mortenson played football his freshman season but missed the last two years. A lot hinges on Prescott’s ability to play both offense and defense.

“It’ll be great for us if Prescott can go both ways,” Freeman said.

Rychel and McKennon are among those battling for playing time at the end spots.

Linebackers: Erik Rask, a Newport-Mesa Dream Team performer on defense last season, moves from outside linebacker to inside ‘backer to lead this unit.

Ray and Kidushim (5-8, 168) join Rask inside.

Tomesello could also see time at inside linebacker.

Noe and Folks, part-time starters last year, return in full-time roles on the outside.

“They are experienced, they played last year,” Freeman said. “They have quickness and speed. I think they can get to the ball well. And they had a good example in Mohler last year.”

Corona del Mar plans to stick exclusively with a three-five-three defensive scheme.

“We’ll probably do more out of it this year,” Freeman said. “Use more movement, maybe stunt our linebackers more. We didn’t have to do that as much last year with Mohler.”

Secondary: Hillgren leads this unit as a returning cornerback who threatened the school single-season interception last fall. He was one shy of Warren Johnson’s 11 picks, set in 1988.

Hillgren still found his way into the school record book by tallying four interceptions in one game, against Laguna Beach.

Hillgren needs just three interceptions to tie Johnson’s career mark of 14.

Last year, Hillgren (5-10, 175) had interception returns of 78, 71 and 27 yards for touchdowns. He led the way on a defense that recorded 23 interceptions last season.

Juniors Johnny Heard, Ricky Townsend and Tyler Harmon will battle for the other cornerback spot.

Albright returns as the starting safety in the three-man secondary.

Heard and Sands could also see some time at safety.

Kicking game: Albright, who will rarely leave the field, is the returning starter at kicker.

“He went to a couple of football camps during the summer and has improved,” Freeman said.

Freeman said junior Paolo Iaccarino was the most likely candidate to wind up as the team’s punter.

Hillgren is a big-play threat as a kick and punt returner. Townsend should get a chance to return kicks and punts, as well.