Sea Kings end with loss

TUSTIN — Entering Friday’s season finale against Beckman High, Corona del Mar football coach Jason Hitchens felt that if his Sea Kings contained the run — especially the exploits of a workhorse named Keith Lawson, the Patriots would have to win the game through the air.

Host Beckman did just that. The Patriots used a few key pass plays to extend drives and combined them with a three-touchdown night by Lewis, to score a 20-14 victory at Tustin High’s Northrup Field.

The win sewed up a third-place finish in the Pacific Coast League for Beckman and gave the school its first-ever CIF playoff berth.

The Patriots (6-3-1 overall, 3-2 in league) will find out their first-round playoff assignment Sunday.

Corona del Mar saw its season come to an end Friday.

The Sea Kings finished 0-5 in league and 4-6 overall.

“It’s tough to lose but I think we have played better football the past couple of weeks,” Hitchens said. “We were stagnant for about a three-week period but in the past few weeks, I felt that we found a bit of rhythm.

“The kids played pretty well tonight and I thought that our defense did a better-than-decent job of containing their big back (Lawson). The key for us was stopping the run and making them beat us with the pass, and they were able to come up with some big pass plays.”

The Sea Kings never did let Lawson break long or loose, but the senior running back did reach the end zone three times. He scored the game’s first touchdown on a 10-yard run four minutes into the second quarter. It turned out to be the lone score in a low-productive half for both teams:

Corona del Mar mustered just 65 yards of offense, while Beckman had 98.

Of the Patriots’ 21 first-half plays, Lawson’s number was called upon 15 times.

The Patriots upped their lead to 14-0 by taking the second-half kickoff 80 yards on a nine-play drive, converting a 12-yard pass play on fourth-and-four. On the next play, Lawson broke to the outside and went 13 yards untouched for his second score.

The Sea Kings got back into the game by answering Lawson’s score. They responded with a 10-play drive that covered 80 yards.

Senior running back Alex Swigert kept the drive alive with a four-yard run on fourth-and-one from the Beckman six-yard line and scored on a two-yard run on the next play.

Andrew Boehm’s kick made it 14-7 with 3:22 left in the third quarter.

Lawson got his third TD on a one-yard vault into the end zone on a fourth-and-goal play with 10:01 left in the game but the Patriots missed the point-after and settled for a 20-7 lead.

Things looked bleak for the Sea Kings moments later when the Patriots recovered a squib kick on the ensuing kickoff near midfield. But three plays later, Cole Cottrell deflected a Justin Hazard pass and Justin Tam came up with an interception to give the ball back to CdM at its own 36 with 8:26 to play.

It took the Sea Kings just four plays to score again. Quarterback Michael Borchard hit John Christian in stride down the middle of the field to complete a 43-yard touchdown pass, and Boehm’s kick brought Corona del Mar to within 20-14 with half a quarter to play.

Beckman did go back to using Lawson to try to run out the clock and the Patriots did manage to eat up nearly five minutes before the Sea Kings held. CdM got the ball back one last time with 1:31 left but had to start from its own 19 without a timeout left. The Sea Kings turned the ball back over to the Patriots after four incomplete passes.

In his final game, Swigert rushed for 79 yards on 22 carries with a touchdown.

Beckman 20, Corona del Mar 14

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Corona del Mar 0-0-7-7--14

Beckman  0-7-7-6--20

SECOND QUARTER

Beck – Lawson 10 run (Traut kick), 8:01

THIRD QUARTER

Beck – Lawson 13 run (Traut kick), 8:15.

CdM – Swigert 2 run (Boehm kick), 3:22.

FOURTH QUARTER

Beck – Lawson 1 run (kick failed), 10:01.

CdM – Christian 43 pass from Borchard (Boehm kick), 6:18.

INDIVIDUAL RUSHING

CdM – Swigert, 22-79, 1 TD; Tam, 3-24; Borchard, 7-8.

Beck – 35-150, 3 TDs; Rivera, 3-10; Swan, 3-6; Smith, 1-1; Hazard, 6-minus 17.

INDIVIDUAL PASSING

CdM – Borchard, 4-11-0, 67, 1 TD.

Beck – Hazard, 5-9-1, 83.

INDIVIDUAL RECEIVING

CdM – Christian, 1-43, 1 TD; Tkam, 2-12; English, 1-12.

Beck – Maclin, 2-41; Barring, 1-27; Rasmussen, 1-12; Archer, 1-3.