Two-minute drill

After winning his first game as Corona del Mar High football coach, Jason Hitchens smiled a little bit. The Sea Kings allowed him to enjoy the season opener as they won in convincing fashion by blowing out nonleague foe Costa Mesa, 55-3, Friday at Newport Harbor High.

“It’s always nice to start the season off on a positive note,” said Hitchens, who also won in his debut while at El Modena and St. Margaret’s.

The victory propelled the Sea Kings into the CIF Southern Section Southern Division top-10 poll. They are ranked No. 8.

• In one game, Corona del Mar running back J.D. Abbott is already more than halfway to surpassing his total rushing yards from last season.

The junior ran for a career-best 205 yards and three touchdowns on 13 carries against Costa Mesa. He racked up 185 yards on 12 carries in the first half. The key to his success was easy.

“The holes were huge,” said Abbott, who scored on runs of 75, 20 and 12 yards. “The line was blocking great.”

The line, which consisted of left tackle Will Ham, left guard Dutch Lamons, center Brad Dupuie, right guard Dan DiChiro and right tackle Ben Noe, dominated. The seniors paved the way for CdM to outrush Costa Mesa, 334-57.

The right side especially punished defenders. But Hitchens wasn’t so quick to give the line all the credit.

“I thought J.D. ran really well,” Hitchens said. “There were plays where the blocks weren’t necessarily there and he did a lot of it on his own. He ran hard. He ran through some tackles.”

Abbott was on pace to break CdM’s single-game rushing record of 296 yards set by Blake Hacker in 2000 until Hitchens pulled him after one carry early in the third quarter.

• When Hitchens said senior Max Haase can do it all for the Sea Kings, he wasn’t joking.

As am outside linebacker, Haase recovered a fumble and returned it nine yards for a touchdown in the first quarter. As a wide receiver, he scored on a six-yard pass from senior Mitch Sands in the second quarter.

Haase also recorded two tackles for losses, one being a sack, and deflected a punt that netted only six yards.

• In addition to being on the other end of an ugly 41-6 outcome, Sage Hill School saw two of its senior studs go down to injuries Saturday against Fairmont Prep.

On Sage Hill’s first possession, Daniel Kernan went down on the second play and never returned.

Craig Jackson limped off the field late in the third quarter after getting tackled on a two-yard run.

Both players start on both sides of the ball, Kernan at guard and defensive tackle and Jackson at tight end and defensive end.

First-year coach Derek McIntyre said Kernan might have sustained a knee injury while Jackson suffered from cramps. Jackson scored the team’s lone touchdown on an 11-yard run.

The Lightning went into the season opener without starting senior running back Jelani Reynolds. McIntyre said Reynolds would be out for the next two weeks as he rests a sprained medial collateral ligament in his right knee.

With Reynolds out, the Lightning started sophomore Taylor Ross, who ran for 47 yards on 11 carries.

• A slogan posted on a banner in the stands, as well as printed on the back of a T-shirt worn by an Aquinas High player at the Falcons’ 35-13 season-opening nonleague win over Estancia Friday, turned out to be a little too much for the hosts to live up to.

After earning a 28-0 lead midway through the third quarter, the Falcons saw Estancia score touchdowns on its next two possessions. Then, junior cornerback Jason Moreno popped the ball loose during a tackle after a reception and senior strong safety Radames Gutierrez recovered to give the Eagles possession with a chance to cut further into the lead.

Aquinas finally clinched the win with a touchdown with 3:26 remaining.

• It’s a short week for Costa Mesa as it plays Beckman Thursday at Tustin High. Beckman, a 42-0 winner over Cerritos in its opener, is ranked No. 9 in the CIF Southern Division.

Costa Mesa Coach Jeremy Osso is hoping his players don’t dwell too much on the lopsided loss.

“When you lose, you’re used to losing and you think anything bad that goes against you is going to be the end all,” said Osso, who hasn’t won a season opener in his three years as coach. “We have to persevere through that.”

The Mustangs hurt themselves by committing five turnovers (four fumbles and one interception) and not protecting junior quarterback Todd Davis.

Davis, making his Costa Mesa debut, was sacked five times.

The Mustangs fell behind, 12-3, after turning the ball over on back-to-back possessions.

• Osso expects senior running back/linebacker Robbie Gemayel to return to the starting lineup against Beckman.

The Mustangs missed him after a left foot injury the day before Labor Day forced him out of action.

“You lose a three-year starter, it’s going to have an effect,” Osso said.

Antwon Byrd, last year’s starter, stepped in for Gemayel. The senior finished with 84 yards on 26 carries. He also caught two passes for 10 yards.

• Estancia provided a hint as to its offensive struggles — five three-and-out scenarios and another three-play possession ended by halftime on its first six possessions — in pregame warmups.

The first play run by the starting offensive unit against a scout team of Estancia reserves resulted in an interception. The second play was preceded by a player jumping offsides.

• Among the positives for the Eagles was the commission of only two penalties, one on a delay of game, the desired alternative on a “no-play” attempt to draw Aquinas offsides, before punting on fourth down.

• Senior Max Ellison and junior Andy Multari each gave Sage Hill great field position by returning kicks for 47 and 45 yards, respectively.

The Lightning just weren’t able to capitalize, losing a fumble on one possession and sputtering on the second.

• Estancia senior tailback Carlos Mendez, the Orange Coast League Co-MVP last season when he rushed for a school single-season record 1,584 yards, was, predictably, an offensive workhorse against Aquinas.

He carried 19 times for 106 yards and one TD, but he had to persevere through a difficult first half to do so.

Mendez had just 19 yards on 10 carries at intermission and had only two runs of longer than four yards before breaking free for a 24-yard gain on his second carry of the third quarter. That run doubled his rushing yards to that point.

He had just one more run in double-figures, running through a tackle on a 30-yard touchdown carry with 8:49 left in the game. Operating behind an inexperienced offensive line, Mendez finished with 10 carries of two or fewer yards, including two for losses and one for no gain.

• Estancia senior Eli Diego caught a 17-yard touchdown pass from Radames Gutierrez to open the scoring for the Eagles, but the starting tight end’s biggest contribution may have come as the punter. He averaged 41.2 yards on five kicks, the first of which he got off after a brilliant play to avert disaster.

The Eagles’ initial punt snap bounced about halfway to Diego, who moved forward to scoop the ball on a hop, then quickly get the kick away.

Junior Danny Ramos, who was not responsible for the short punt snap, was subsequently inserted to handle long-snapping chores and he did so without any mistakes.

• Late in the second quarter of the Estancia-Aquinas game, a police helicopter flew overhead. As spectators looked to the sky, the chopper’s spotlight shone down onto the field of play, seemingly scanning players on both teams in between snaps.

The interlude lasted just a few seconds, before it flew off and the game action was not interrupted.

• CdM plays Laguna Beach (0-1), another Orange Coast League team, Friday at 7 p.m. at Newport Harbor. Since 2006, the Sea Kings are 4-0 against teams from that league, outscoring them, 159-56.

• Sage Hill had won four straight season openers until Saturday.

“We just shot ourselves in the foot,” said McIntyre, whose team fumbled nine times, but only lost three, and threw three interceptions. “Too many turnovers. A majority of them were mental mistakes, all correctable.”

• Estancia’s captains Friday were Gutierrez, Jose Padilla, Mendez and Jason Moreno.

The Eagles open Jim Scott Stadium Friday at 7 p.m. against Bolsa Grande (0-0).

— From staff reports