Sea Kings need defense to rise

CORONA DEL MAR -- A thick fog hurt visibility on the football field last week, but not enough to hide the fact that Corona del Mar High struggled curtailing the option.

“There’s good news and bad news,” CdM coach Dick Freeman said. “We’ve seen it. We just didn’t do well with it.”

The Sea Kings will get another dose of the option tonight.

This time the program running it does so throughout the game, something CdM learned it couldn’t contain during its 44-40 shootout victory over Estancia in the first round of the CIF Southern Section Southern Division playoffs.

CdM (7-4) enters the 7 p.m. quarterfinal at Western High in Anaheim against a Cypress (9-2) program that’s on a high. The Centurions return to the field where they upset Western, 28-24, scoring all of their points in the fourth quarter.

Cypress did it without having a running back rush for more than 100 yards. The leading rusher gained 34 yards.

An incredible feat considering the Sea Kings allowed Estancia to rush for 268 yards and four touchdowns, and Estancia lost.

“We didn’t work a lot against the option. We do a little bit every week, just in case somebody runs it against us,” said Freeman, whose team finished in second place in the pass-happy Pacific Coast League. “That wasn’t one of (the Eagles’) main things. I think because they were so successful at it, they kept running it.

“I don’t think they ran anything but that.”

Freeman expects Cypress, the third-place team out of the Empire League, to pound away.

Focus all week has been on stopping the option, which outside linebacker Tom Folks said the team didn’t practice against leading up to the first round. CdM coaches have now been hammering on the defensive assignments, from which players are responsible for the dive to the pitch and to the quarterback.

But what happens when a defensive player gets blocked, or misses an assignment? A big play.

The Sea Kings gave up plenty to Estancia.

They couldn’t figure out who carried the ball, as quarterback Mike Morley ran for 121 yards and three touchdowns, and running back Rafael Alejandre 119 yards and one touchdown.

Each time Corona del Mar gave up a touchdown, the offense responded with a score in the first three quarters. Folks had a big game offensively, rushing for 205 yards and one touchdown on 24 carries. He found success mainly because of an offensive line that had its best game of the season, Freeman said. The line includes John Joyce, Arion Lapuz, Steven Dean, James McKinnon, Max Prescott and tight end Ali Meshkin. They also protected well for quarterback Taylor Hughes, who challenged his teammates.

“We need to start picking it up on defense,” said Hughes, who saw Corona del Mar give up 417 total yards. “I like going back on the field, but it’s good to get stops, because you don’t always like being under that pressure of having to score and worrying about making mistakes.”

Hughes didn’t make any errors in leading Corona del Mar to its second playoff victory since 1995.

The senior threw for 230 yards and three touchdowns, two going for scores of 83 and 49 yards. Both went to his favorite target, Steven Hillgren.

Despite his depth perception being poor, Hughes knew how to spot the 5-foot-11, 168-pound Hillgren. Hughes has all year, as the two have hooked up 37 times for 735 yards and eight touchdowns.

Against Estancia, Hillgren caught three passes for 138 yards. The senior also returned a kickoff 78 yards for a touchdown and intercepted two passes. He has nine picks this season, giving him a school-record 18 for his career.

“(The Centurions) do a lot of man coverage and I think all of our receivers can definitely get open,” said Hillgren, referring to teammates Hunt Rychel and Ford Noe, who have combined for 57 catches and 1,001 yards. “We should have another big game offensively.

“Our defense will pick it up and we’ll definitely shut them down this week.”

With the forecast calling for clear skies tonight, the Sea Kings have no option but to stop the option.