Blazing start helps CdM roll to victory

Hosts emerge from bye with 26 points in first 8:13, and build 45-0 lead before cruising by Pats.NEWPORT BEACH -- With four touchdowns in just more than eight minutes, it was clear the Corona del Mar High football team emerged from its bye week without any rust.

But although they earned 45-20 Pacific Coast League win over visiting Beckman on Friday at Newport Harbor High, the Sea Kings were something less than polished.

CdM (4-5, 2-3 in league) -- ranked No. 8 in CIF Southern Section Division IX -- committed 14 penalties for 119 yards, fumbled the ball away twice and failed on four of its seven PATs.

Still, there wasn’t enough concern to keep a smile off the face of CdM Coach Dick Freeman or his players, who need one more win -- Friday against University at Irvine High -- to reach the CIF playoffs for the third time in four seasons.

“It was nice to get out early, but then we flubbed up a little,” Freeman said.

Still, the Sea Kings scored the game’s first 45 points, before the Patriots (2-8, 1-5) -- who closed their first varsity season without seniors -- cut into the deficit.

The Sea Kings set the tone on their first official play. After a penalty, senior tailback Matt Loyd sprinted 67 yards for a touchdown.

On the first play after the ensuing kickoff, CdM senior defensive end Matt Burgner tipped a pass at the line and junior cornerback Steve Hillgren made a diving interception at the Patriots’ 16-yard line.

Three plays later, junior fullback Austin Ray carried up the middle for a 1-yard touchdown and it was 13-0.

A 3-yard touchdown run by Dio Johnson capped a four-play, 49-yard drive on the hosts’ next possession.

Then, after sophomore tackle Stephen Deverian recovered a Beckman fumble at the Patriots’ 4-yard line, Loyd scored on a 25-yard run to overcome three consecutive penalties.

Johnson added a 29-yard touchdown run and Loyd returned an interception 20 yards for another score to give the Sea Kings a commanding 39-0 halftime lead.

After the hosts recovered their own squib kickoff, which bounded off a Patriots player to start the second half, sophomore Ricky Townsend sprinted around the right side for a 20-yard touchdown to make it 45-0 with 11:09 left in the third quarter.

Liberal substitutions followed for CdM, which took a knee on the final play of the first half at the Beckman 23 to avert pouring it on.

Loyd, who opened the season with 524 rushing yards in four nonleague games, but -- largely due to a sore knee -- had collected just 162 yards on 35 carries the first four league games, finished with 176 yards on just seven carries.

“We finally started bouncing those runs outside,” Freeman said. “We’ve been trying to get our guys to do that all season, but they seem to want to run in the middle where all the people are.”

CdM had 272 yards of offense by intermission, by which time the only suspense was the identity of the homecoming queen -- CdM star cross country runner Annie St. Geme.

Beckman was hampered by injuries to its top three ball carriers. Sophomore D’Amato Tyson, who came in just 68 yards shy of 1,000, tried to play on a badly sprained ankle. He carried twice for 1 yard and caught one pass for 15 yards, before watching the second half with a protective boot on his right foot.

Kevin Lawson (425 rushing yards this season) did not play at all, while Giordano Duro, who came in with 578 rushing yards, carried 10 times for 56 yards. But Duro left the game with an unspecified injury midway through the third quarter and did not return.

“We had three starting running backs out, which really hurt us,” Beckman Coach Brian Mustain said.

Sophomore quarterback Sebastian Vollaerts threw for 106 yards, including a 28-yard touchdown to Park Allenbach with 15 seconds left for the Patriots.

Mustain was impressed by the Sea Kings.

“I think the bye week came at a good time for them, because they looked to be healthy,” Mustain said. “They have to win out to make the playoffs and it looks like they are ready to take a shot at it.”

The interception was the 10th of the season for Hillgren, who is now one shy of tying the school single-season record and four shy of the career mark, both held by Warren Johnson.

Burgner picked up his 35th career sack, extending his own school career record, while Shaun Mohler, John Fairbanks and Mike Gratzinger also stood out defensively for the winners.