Sea Kings move on

NEWPORT BEACH — A drawn-up play for this particular football game for Corona del Mar High worked to perfection.

Not the first time.

The second time, yes.

Dillon Norton raced out of the backfield and underneath a pass, taking it 60 yards for a touchdown with 61 seconds left before halftime.

Mr. Big Play finally delivered against La Mirada at Newport Harbor High.

Fourteen seconds into the second half, Norton was off and running again.

Norton’s 97-yard kickoff return for a touchdown proved to be the game-winner as the No. 2-seeded Sea Kings won, 26-15, in the opening round of the CIF Southern Section Southern Division playoffs Friday night.

“I’m not ready to turn in my pads,” Norton said after his third kickoff return for a touchdown this season.

CdM (9-2) advances to the quarterfinals in Coach Jason Hitchens’ first year. The Sea Kings next week play at Laguna Beach (5-6), a team it blew out, 37-0, on Sept. 12.

As soon as CdM beat La Mirada (4-7), Hitchens told his players to forget about how badly they beat Laguna Beach.

“You erase it,” Hitchens said. “It’s insignificant.”

The Breakers are a different team after beating Santa Ana, 39-14, Thursday, claiming their first playoff win in 21 years.

“It’s hard to beat a team twice in one season,” Norton said.

The senior had no problem beating the kicker.

Norton gave the Sea Kings some breathing room with his electrifying kickoff return. He followed the wedge and bounced off a defender before cutting right.

Only the kicker was in the way. Norton zoomed past him near midfield and fled down the CdM sideline, giving the Sea Kings a 20-0 lead.

Norton had to make the kicker look bad after CdM’s kicker went down with an injury without being touched on the game’s opening kickoff.

Andrew Boehm missed the remainder of the game with a leg injury.

Boehm might be out for the season, leaving the Sea Kings without an experienced varsity kicker.

“It looks like he’s going to be done for the season,” Hitchens said. “When he planted on that first kickoff, the field was kind of a little loose and I think it gave a little bit and he came over the top of it.

“As you get deeper in the playoffs, every point counts.”

The Sea Kings turned in enough big plays against La Mirada for them not to rely on the kicker. J.D. Abbott rushed for 183 yards and one touchdown on 19 carries. The junior’s biggest run of the night was a 53-yarder.

Quarterback Mitch Sands was part of two long scores, the 60-yard pass to Norton in the second quarter and a 57-yard run in the third quarter.

Sands almost connected with Norton on a 41-yard touchdown in the second quarter. The senior overthrew a wide-open Norton.

It was OK. The two hooked up on the same play designed against a blitzing La Mirada later in the quarter.

Sands is three touchdown passes away from tying the CdM single-season touchdown record of 22 set by Taylor Hughes in 2006.

That same year was the last time the Sea Kings advanced to the quarterfinals. The Sea Kings are favored to get past Laguna Beach and reach the semifinals for the first time since 1995.

La Mirada helped the Sea Kings cruise for most of the first round by turning the ball over on downs three times and fumbling once.

Quarterback Daniel Ponce De Leon was forced to throw for a career-best 360 yards and two touchdowns on 31-of-47 passing.

CdM took starting running back Devon Tracy out of the game, allowing him two yards on four carries.

“With him not playing, our running game struggled,” said La Mirada Coach Mike Moschetti, adding Tracy injured his ankle in the regular-season finale, helping the team share second place in the Suburban League with two other teams.

“We moved the ball all night long.”

CORONA DEL MAR 26, LA MIRADA 15

SCORE BY QUARTERS

La Mirada 0-0-7-8--15

CdM 0-14-12-0--26

SECOND QUARTER

CdM – Abbott 18 run (Dalton kick), 3:07.

CdM – Norton 60 pass from Sands (Dalton kick), 1:01.

THIRD QUARTER

CdM – Norton 97 kickoff return (kick failed), 11:46.

CdM – Sands 57 run (kick failed), 7:52.

LM – Whitfield 86 pass from Ponce De Leon (Berger kick), :34.

FOURTH QUARTER

LM – Matta 23 pass from Ponce De Leon (Whitfield pass from Ponce De Leon), 3:53.

INDIVIDUAL RUSHING

LM – Gonzalez, 15-71; Torres, 2-9; Tracy, 4-2; Ponce De Leon, 6-minus 29; Moran, 1-minus 11.

CdM – Abbott, 19-183, 1 TD; Sands, 8-104, 1 TD; Swigert, 2-4.

INDIVIDUAL PASSING

LM – Ponce De Leon, 31-47-0, 360, 2 TDs.

CdM – Sands, 6-14-1, 106, 1 TD.

INDIVIDUAL RECEIVING

LM – Whitfield, 8-161, 1 TD; Zherdev, 11-96; Trevino, 6-44; Matta, 2-34, 1 TD; Perruzzi, 3-23; Gonzalez, 1-2.

CdM – Norton, 1-60, 1 TD; Haase, 1-17; Swigert, 1-11; Molnar, 2-10; Abbott, 1-8.

DAVID CARRILLO PEÑALOZA may be reached at (714) 966-4612 or at [email protected].