Injury clouds CdM

Patrick Laverty

Corona del Mar High’s football team has already shown an ability to

bounce back from a difficult loss. It did so two weeks ago with a

victory over Cypress after an emotionally-draining defeat against

Newport Harbor in the Battle of the Bay.

Now the Sea Kings (3-2) must bounce back from their worst defeat

since 1997 and they’ll be looking to take advantage of former Corona

del Mar Coach Dave Holland and his Laguna Beach team (3-2) tonight at

7 at Orange Coast College.

The game is the Pacific Coast League opener for both teams and Sea

Kings Coach Dick Freeman thinks that will be a key factor in his

team’s ability to forget last week’s 45-0 loss to La Habra.

“This is league. This is when it counts,” Freeman said. “The guys

bounce back pretty well. They’re pretty focused. They know what they

want to do.”

They also have to know that the first two weeks of league play,

which includes next week’s game against Calvary Chapel, are two games

that need to be won. Corona del Mar closes out the season with away

games against Northwood, Tesoro and University. It is expected to

battle those three teams for the top three spots in league and an

automatic playoff berth.

In order to obtain a victory this week, the Sea Kings will have to

shut down the Breakers’ passing game, an area they had plenty of

difficulty in last week, allowing 300 yards through the air to La

Habra.

“We’ve got pretty good skill guys and they just got beat,” Freeman

said. “After seeing what they can do getting down the field, we’re

going to change some things.”

Laguna Beach quarterback Alex Wilson has completed 64% of his

passes this season for 1,095 yards. He has thrown 13 touchdowns,

eight of them to Jake Wheeler, but has been intercepted six times.

Sea Kings quarterback Tom Welch (28 of 59 passing for 324 yards)

is questionable for tonight’s game after suffering a left shoulder

strain in last week’s loss, though Freeman said Tuesday he expects

him to start.

If Welch cannot play, the Sea Kings could turn to sophomore Shaun

Mohler or junior Wess Presson. Or they could, like Costa Mesa did in

the first quarter last week, turn to a direct snap from the center to

the running back. Corona del Mar showed this look on a few snaps last

week, sending Welch in motion and then hiking it directly to Presson

or Austin Brawner.

Presson (60 carries for 251 yards) and Brawner (59 carries for 255

yards) have been sharing carries with sophomore Brett Crowley (39

carries for 150 yards) out of the backfield and that is expected to

continue. All three should see a plethora of opportunities this week,

particularly if Welch is absent from the mix, as the Sea Kings

attempt to keep the ball away from the Breakers’ wide-open offense.

“Presson’s doing a great job,” Freeman said. “He ends up getting less

carries because he’s such a good blocker.”

The problem for the running backs through the first five games has

been an injury-plagued offensive line. Starters Andy Lujan, John

Fairbanks and Andrew Keligian all missed last week’s game and could

miss a second straight start this week.

If they can’t play, J.R. Saroyan, Chris Reilly and Robby Richey

would start for the second consecutive game.

Fairbanks and Keligian are also starters at defensive tackle. They

would be replaced on that side of the ball by Zach Wishengrad and

Saroyan.

Another injury concern for the Sea Kings is receiver and

cornerback Kevin Welch (14 receptions for 257 yards), who is battling

a groin injury. He practiced Tuesday and will likely be in the

starting lineup tonight, Freeman said.

Holland, in his eighth season at Laguna Beach, was the Sea Kings’

head coach for 20 seasons, spanning two terms.