Sea Kings come alive

TUSTIN — They might just be another couple of fraternal twins to anyone else, but ask Corona del Mar High Coach Dick Freeman about seniors Erik and Kevin Rask, and he’ll tell you differently.

“The only thing that makes a difference is that they’re both studs,” Freeman said, laughing. “These guys are great linebackers. It seems like every game, they have a better game, and they’re getting better all the time.”

Those ‘studs’ helped the Sea Kings’ defense contain Beckman (4-2, 0-1 in league) Thursday night at Tustin High for a 22-3 win, after allowing 21 points in a loss to Villa Park the week before. That gave CdM (3-4, 1-0) a victory in its Pacific Coast League football opener.

Erik Rask had two sacks for a loss of seven yards — the Sea Kings had five on the night — while Kevin added a two-yard touchdown run in the first quarter to put the Sea Kings up, 6-0. Erik also tackled a wide receiver in the backfield on a reverse for a 12-yard loss.

But it wasn’t just aggressive defense that helped CdM win. After losing punter/kicker Hunter Lewis because of a shoulder injury, sophomore John Christian was moved up from junior varsity. Christian kept the Patriots pinned back. His worst effort produced a fair catch at Beckman’s own 43-yard line, and he also had a 58-yard punt that had the Patriots starting a drive from their own two-yard line.

“John Christian did a great job punting for us,” Freeman said. “We lost our punter and he came out of nowhere.”

CdM had a couple of opportunities to take advantage of great field position, but it couldn’t convert.

Thanks to a second-quarter interception by JD Abbott at Beckman’s 25-yard line, the Sea Kings had a short field right before halftime, but lost yards when Alder was sacked. CdM lost another 10 yards because of two holding penalties. In seven plays, CdM moved the ball just 11 yards.

In the third quarter, the Sea Kings got the ball at the Beckman 29 after a 10-yard interception return by Max Haase. But they gave the ball right back at the 16 with an interception.

“I thought we played a pretty good defensive game, and offensively, we hung in there and tried not to make mistakes,” Freeman said. “We were able to overcome them, but we still had our hold penalties like we always have, for some reason.”

The Patriots were the team of Kenny Wilson, the late Beckman player who collapsed and died during the first day of practice, and they decided to honor him throughout the season. Wilson’s brother Pete, the ball boy for the Patriots was wearing a blue Beckman jersey, No. 59, meant to honor his brother’s memory. A group of students in the home bleachers were wearing Wilson’s No. 59 jersey, which has his name printed on it, and his parents, also present, were wearing it too. Instead of retiring the number, each year, the Beckman lineman with the best performance will wear the No. 59, according to Beckman Assistant Principal Sean Diaz.

SORAYA NADIA McDONALD may be reached at (714) 966-4613 or at soraya.mcdonald@latimes.com.

FIRST QUARTER

CdM – K. Rask 2 run (kick failed), 3:00.

SECOND QUARTER

B – Casty 38 FG, 8:20.

THIRD QUARTER

CdM – Molnar 58 pass from Alder (Harmon run), 9:09.

CdM – Safety: punt out of end zone, 2:03.

FOURTH QUARTER

CdM – Meshkin 5 pass from Alder (pass failed), 3:05.

INDIVIDUAL RUSHING

CdM – Harmon 12-42; Abbott 7-22; Raiger 6-25; Swigert 3-16; Sands 1-5; E. Rask 1-3; K. Rask 1-2, 1 TD.

B – Tyson 18-72; Vollaerts 1-1.

INDIVIDUAL PASSING

CdM – Alder 10-13-1, 161, 2TDs; Sands 1-4-0, 18.

B – Vollaerts 6-11-2, 71.

INDIVIDUAL RECEIVING

CdM – Molnar 6-113, 1TD; Haase 2-48; Townsend 2-13; Meshkin 1-5, 1 TD.

B – Loew 4-59; Casty 1-6; Messmer 1-6.