Sea Kings, at a crossroads, shuffling lineup

With two games remaining in the season the Corona del Mar High football team is at a fork in the road leading to the postseason.

One direction fraught with uncertainty, while the other is a much smoother path to the playoffs. The ladder can be obtained by dispatching Irvine (6-2, 2-0 in league), the No. 8-ranked team in the CIF Southern Section Southern Division, when the two clash tonight at 7 at Orange Coast College.

A victory for the No. 4 Sea Kings, will put them solidly in second place in the Pacific Coast League, which guarantees three playoff spots. A loss could lead to the possibility of a coin flip deciding Corona del Mar’s postseason fate.

The task is more daunting after Corona del Mar (5-3, 1-1 in league) lost starting linebacker and tailback Erik Rask for the season with a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee. Rask, a junior, averaged nearly 15 tackles a game through seven games and he led the team with 374 yards rushing.

Rask had carried the ball 20 times for 121 yards and a touchdown in the game preceding the 26-20 loss to Laguna Hills in which he injured the knee.

“He took it really hard,” Sea Kings Coach Dick Freeman said. “He has to get his flexibility back before they can operate on it.”

Without the two-way star, who will still accompany the team on the sideline, the Sea Kings’ psyche has been upbeat Freeman said.

“We still have guys flying around,” Freeman said.

The two high-profile positions up for grabs late in the season have added excitement. On defense, 5-foot-8, 178-pound sophomore nose guard Dan DiChiro will move to inside linebacker, while senior Austin Ray moves to outside linebacker. The Sea Kings’ 6-7 senior left tackle John Joyce will start at nose guard.

“One guy is not going to pick up all of his tackles,” Freeman said. “People are just going to have to pick it up. Safety Charlie Albright has picked up some of his tackles against Laguna Hills, but he is going to have to react better.”

The offensive hole may prove to be the most interesting, with Ray moving from fullback to tailback for the start and linebacker Tommy Folks getting some carries.

“We’re still going to give it a whack,” Freeman said. “We have a couple more guys. Hopefully we can get something started.”

Taking Rask’s place in the starting lineup will be senior receiver Hunt Rychel, who has not started since suffering a concussion the third week of the season against Troy.

The Sea Kings offense, which has always been pass oriented, will continue to be strong with quarterback Taylor Hughes at the controls and receivers Steven Hillgren, Ford Noe, Rychel and tight end Ali Meshkin at his disposal.

Irvine enters the contest on a five-game winning streak. Vaqueros running back Chris Sykes presents unique challenges for a Corona del Mar team minus a sure tackler. Sykes has rushed for 1,087 yards and 14 touchdowns on 172 carries.

“Hanging on to the ball and not turning it over will be key to keeping it out of Sykes’ hands,” Freeman said. “And they are throwing the ball better every day. We can’t move up a safety or we’re liable to get burnt.”

The two teams have a pair of common opponents, Beckman and Newport Harbor. Both defeated Beckman by nearly the exact margin, but against Newport Harbor the Sea Kings won, 14-6, in week four while the Vaqueros lost to the Sailors, 27-0, in week three.

“You can put yourself out of the playoffs with two losses in this league,” Freeman said.

The Sea Kings hope to avoid just that tonight.