Two-minute drill

Corona del Mar High enters the quarterfinals of the CIF Southern Section Southern Division football playoffs against Laguna Beach knowing two things.

The Sea Kings (9-2) smothered the Breakers, 37-0, on Sept. 12

The Sea Kings will be without sophomore kicker Andrew Boehm in the second meeting.

First-year coach Jason Hitchens wanted the No. 2-seeded Sea Kings to forget about one of the two before playing the Breakers (5-6) on the road Friday.

Guess which one?

Yes, the previous Laguna Beach game.

Hitchens called the victory insignificant since the Breakers have turned around their season.

Losing Boehm is not insignificant.

Boehm injured a leg on the opening kickoff, leaving CdM without an experienced varsity kicker.

Hitchens called on junior varsity kicker Donald Dalton early on in the 26-15 opening-round playoff victory against La Mirada (4-7) Friday at Newport Harbor High.

In 10 plays, the Sea Kings reached La Mirada’s four with less than five minutes left in the first quarter.

With Boehm lying on a table on the sideline, CdM elected to kick a field goal on fourth down.

Dalton, a sophomore, attempted a 21-yarder. It was no good, but a defensive offside penalty gave CdM another opportunity.

Hitchens asked for a timeout to think it over after the ball was moved half the distance.

So, try another field goal from two yards closer, or go for it?

The Sea Kings went for it.

La Mirada held despite being spread thin. Quarterback Mitch Sands’ throw to the far side of the field fell incomplete.

“I think he’s capable of doing it,” Hitchens said of Dalton, who also missed another 21-yard field-goal attempt late in the fourth quarter and converted two of four extra-point kicks. “He has a strong leg. Throwing him into the fire Game 11 isn’t the most ideal situation.”

• Costa Mesa Coach Jeremy Osso shrugged it off after the game. But, for the Mustangs, losing two defensive starters and a key reserve to academic ineligibility didn’t help matters during a 17-14 loss to Santiago in the first round of the CIF Southern Section Southern Division playoffs Friday at Estancia.

Their absence was felt in a close game, particularly in the second half, when Santiago held the ball for about 19 of the 24 minutes. Costa Mesa had just two second-half possessions and one first down, and the Cavaliers’ Paul Escamilla amassed 95 of his game-high 173 rushing yards after halftime.

But the replacements did respond. Junior cornerback Luis Gomez recovered a fumble, and senior Juan Garces — the Mustangs’ starting center — recorded several tackles on defense. Senior Kevin Astorino also came off the bench to record an interception.

“You can’t think about [the difference made by losing the ineligible players],” Osso said. “The guys who played [Friday night played fantastic.”

• Sands needs four touchdown passes to break CdM’s single-season record set by Taylor Hughes in 2006.

The 6-foot-1, 175-pound senior has a great shot of getting closer to the mark against Laguna Beach. The Breakers have allowed 34 or more points five times this year.

Sands threw two touchdown passes to wide receiver Noah Molnar in the Sea Kings’ 37-0 victory against Laguna Beach on Sept. 12.

Sands also ran for one. He can the run the ball, evident from his 104 yards and one touchdown on eight carries against La Mirada. He scored on a 57-yard run in the third quarter.

The Sea Kings’ offense has been running a lot of shotgun formation, giving Sands the opportunity to effectively run or throw.

“Rarely will you see us under center anymore,” Hitchens said.

Who can argue against the move?

The Sea Kings are on a roll, winning four straight games. They are averaging 28.5 points per game this season.

• The Costa Mesa-Santiago game went by fairly quickly as both the Mustangs and Cavaliers kept it primarily on the ground. Mesa junior quarterback Brian Waldron threw just one pass, and it was incomplete in the fourth quarter.

Costa Mesa failed to complete a pass in three of its final four games.

• Many Mustangs seniors cried after the loss to Santiago, sorry to see the season end. But it was a memorable one for Mesa, which started 0-5 but won five straight.

Along the way, the Mustangs won their second straight Orange Coast League title, and first outright league title since 2002.

“We were able to turn the season around completely,” said senior running back Antwon Byrd, who ran for 89 yards and a touchdown Friday. “At first, we didn’t [believe], but right around the Century game [a 35-6 victory on Oct. 10] we started believing and we came together as a team.”

Osso said he was also happy with the season.

“It’s easy when you start 0-5 for the kids to just quit,” Osso said. “Just to battle back and understand there is a bigger picture and something better out there, that lesson’s going to carry on with them through life. That was more important than any victory they get on the football field.

“When I was an assistant coach, I once had a defensive coordinator’s wife come up to me. She said, ‘Are you upset?’ And I said, ‘Yeah, I’m upset.’ And she said, ‘You know what? You’re going to be upset unless you win the championship.’ Are you going to be happy with how the season ended, no, but I am proud of these guys for the effort they gave after that 0-5 start.”

— From staff reports