Call it T.G.I.T. for Corona del Mar football

Thursday games are seemingly perfect for the Corona del Mar High football team.

Flashback to its last Thursday game. Corona del Mar, on a two-game losing streak, took on heavyweight Newport Harbor, which was undefeated and had not allowed a point. A victory was dragged out of the cross-town rival scrap.

This week, with the Pacific Coast League opener tonight at 7 at Newport Harbor against Beckman (5-1), the Sea Kings (4-2) will have had four days of practice crammed into three days.

There will not have been a walk-through to make sure Corona del Mar is 100-percent mentally prepared.

But Corona del Mar Coach Dick Freeman knows that being prepared has never been a problem with his team.

“We get them pretty focused,” Freeman said.

The Sea Kings, winners of three straight, are ranked No. 2 in the CIF Southern Section Southern Division.

Beckman fell from No. 7 after its first loss last week to Woodbridge.

At the crossroads of the season, the nonleague in the past and four league games until the end, Freeman said he was not surprised about how well the majority of his team has played.

“These guys have really come together,” he said. “The seniors that came back, I know they could play. And the juniors, they weren’t going to get any worse. It’s the sophomores that have stepped it up.”

Those sophomores would include receiver-linebacker Max Haase, running back-linebacker Dutch Lamons, defensive end Ben Noe, nose guard Dan DiChiro and cornerback Mitch Sands.

Haase saw his playing time increase when Hunt Rychel went down early in the third game against Troy.

Since then, in a little under four games, Haase has caught five passes for 69 yards and two touchdowns.

Noe, DiChiro and Sands have been yearlong starters on a defense that has allowed 23 points in the past three games.

“You don’t want to have to play them,” Freeman said of the sophomores. “Ben has gone both ways and that’s incredible. It’s really about being able to absorb everything.”

Once again, the strength of the offense will partially depend on the throwing shoulder of senior Taylor Hughes. Hughes has not played quarterback the past two games, with junior Hunter Alder filling in admirably, going 17 for 34 with 248 yards and two touchdowns.

This week, Hughes has seen increased work with each day, but Freeman said if there is any soreness in Hughes’ shoulder, which there hasn’t been, he will not play.

“He’s been throwing the last few days and he got treatment [Tuesday],” Freeman said. “He’s closer to starting than to not starting.”

Another key cog in the Sea Kings offensive machine, Rychel, will see increased playing time, although he will not return to the starting lineup yet. Rychel caught one pass for 19 yards last week after missing the two previous games with an injury and then battling an illness.

“He’s a lot skinnier than he was,” Freeman said. “He’ll play and we’ll get as much out of him as we can. He hasn’t been running so he’s not in real good shape.”

But with Rychel, who has caught eight passes for 228 yards and three touchdowns, and Hughes, who is 48 for 79 with 889 yards and eight touchdowns, playing large roles in the offense again, the Sea Kings could have an explosion on the scoreboard.

“That’s what we are hoping for,” Freeman said.

The coach’s focus, though, is on improving a running game which cleared the 100-yard mark against Villa Park for the first time in three games with the lowest amount of carries this season, 14. Erik Rask ran the ball four times for 71 yards and two touchdowns and will start at tailback.

“I wish I knew,” Freeman said of how to improve the ground game. “We’re not giving up on it.”

Freeman said Beckman is a young team and while the Patriots have not faced the level of competition Corona del Mar has — Beckman’s opposition is a combined 10-22 — the Patriots have talent.

”

Beckman runs a wing-T style offense and has an active defense, but Freeman said his team is prepared.

“Every week these guys keep surprising me,” he said.