Hawks, miscues kill CdM

LAGUNA HILLS — A virulent first-half turnover virus was more than partially responsible for a surprisingly lopsided Pacific Coast League-opening loss for the Corona del Mar High football team Friday night.

But host Laguna Hills, unbeaten and ranked No. 1 in the CIF Southern Section Southern Division, also had plenty to do with flattening the Sea Kings, 34-7.

CdM (5-2, 0-1), ranked No. 4 in the Southern Division, committed four turnovers on its first five possessions, each one giving the Hawks (6-0, 1-0) a short field.

But Laguna Hills did its part, procuring three of its four interceptions and also stripping and recovering a fumble, then cashing in each of the four turnovers for a 20-0 halftime advantage.

“I told our guys at halftime, we were playing two opponents,” Corona del Mar Coach Jason Hitchens said. “I sure don’t think the five turnovers [including a fourth interception in the fourth quarter] helped our cause.”

Now, Hitchens can only hope that the bug quickly runs its course and that humility is the only symptom lingering when his players awoke today.

“The only thing I can hope for is that we got it all out of our system,” Hitchens said of his team’s penchant for setting the Hawks up for prime scoring chances.

It was more than CdM miscues, however, that helped the Hawks improve to 7-0-1 in the Pacific Coast League since it rejoined the alliance from the Sea View League before the 2006 season.

Laguna Hills held the Sea Kings, who came in averaging 33 points per game, to just 32 yards of total offense and just two first downs in the first two quarters.

Cornerback Ryan Ur easily collected a deep pass thrown up for grabs to start the torrent of turnovers, returning the interception 33 yards to the CdM 27. The pick led to a 42-yard field goal by Richie Hogan to open the scoring midway through the first quarter.

After an exchange of punts, Hawks’ cornerback Shawn Tucker collected an errant CdM pass for another interception, returning it six yards to the Sea Kings’ 35-yard line.

The CdM defense, which allowed just 99 yards before halftime, including only 15 in the first period, did its job to force another 42-yard Hogan field goal.

But on the first snap after the ensuing kickoff, Tucker hauled in an overthrown pass and returned it five yards to the CdM 29. The next play produced a scoring pass from senior quarterback Robert Refsnyder to AJ Martin. Hogan’s conversion kick made it 13-0 with 8:15 left in the first half.

Two plays into CdM’s ensuing possession, a tackler popped the ball loose from the ballcarrier and Tucker fell on the fumble, one of four for the Sea Kings though only one was lost, at the CdM 21.

Five plays later, including a 13-yard run by Tucker on an option reverse, Laguna Hills had a 20-0 lead.

For good measure, the Hawks tacked on touchdown runs of 59 and 48 yards, by Matt Giovinazzo and Refsnyder, respectively, in the third quarter to render the final 13 minutes garbage time.

CdM averted the shutout by covering 41 yards on seven plays in the waning minutes. Mitch Sands threw a 13-yard fade pass to Noah Molnar.

“We talked to the kids about 5-1 [the team’s record in nonleague action] meaning nothing,” Hitchens said. “Now, we’re 0-1, which is all that matters. We couldn’t get anything going on offense and we gave them the ball in our own territory four times in the first half.

Six of Laguna Hills’ seven first-half possessions began in CdM territory, while the Sea Kings never got past their own 32, until Dillon Norton returned the second-half kickoff 32 yards to his own 33.

CdM passed midfield just twice — not moving beyond the Hawks’ 48 either time — before putting together its late scoring drive against defensive reserves.

“Things started to click early with the turnovers,” Laguna Hills Coach Bruce Ingalls said. “We got a couple good bounces and we certainly took advantage of them.

“We kept he pressure on their quarterback [collecting three sacks and allowing just four completions] and that made a huge difference. We definitely wanted to come after [the quarterback] and our kids did a good job blitzing.”

Laguna also stifled the run, limiting CdM to 89 yards on 35 rushing attempts, only three of which produced more than 10 yards and none more than 20.

Senior tailback J.D. Abbott pounded into the pile 18 times for 49 yards to pace the visitors, who now must rebound to fulfill the early promise their season held.

“We have three more opportunities to dig ourselves out of this hole,” Hitchens said. “But it’s not going to get any easier against Irvine, University and Beckman.”

LAGUNA HILLS 34, CORONA DEL MAR 7

SCORE BY QUARTERS

CdM - 0 0 0 7 - 7

Laguna - 3 17 14 0 - 34

FIRST QUARTER

LH – Hogan 42 FG, 6:39.

SECOND QUARTER

LH – Hogan 42 FG, 8:30.

LH – Martin 29 pass from Refsnyder (Hogan kick), 8:15.

LH – Perkins 1 run (Hogan kick), 5:04.

THIRD QUARTER

LH – Giovinazzo 59 run (Hogan kick), 10:16.

LH – Refsnyder 48 run (Hogan kick), 1:08.

FOURTH QUARTER

CdM – Molnar 13 pass from Sands (Boehm kick), 1:02.

INDIVIDUAL RUSHING

CdM – Abbott, 18-49; Sands, 17-40.

LH – Browning, 14-59; Giovinazzo, 5-70, 1 TD; Refsnynder, 3-55, 1 TD; Tucker, 3-18; Vorsheck, 2-5; Perkins, 3-2, 1 TD; Rupert, 1-3; Dimmler, 1-0; MacCabe, 5-minus 8.

INDIVIDUAL PASSING

CdM – Sands, 4-15-4, 50, 1 TD.

LH – Refsnyder, 3-9-0, 45, 1 TD.

INDIVIDUAL RECEIVING

CdM – Norton, 2-31; Molnar, 2-19, 1 TD.

LH – Martin, 2-37, 1 TD; Giovinazzo, 1-8.

BARRY FAULKNER may be reached at (714) 966-4615 or at barry.faulkner@latimes.com.