Bittersweet shutout

LAGUNA BEACH — Jason Hitchens is not a football coach who overlooks an opponent, especially when he has starters out with injuries.

Two days prior to Corona del Mar High’s latest challenge in the playoffs at Laguna Beach, Hitchens hinted at the future.

“It looks like the matchup,” said Hitchens, cracking a smile when asked of the likelihood of CdM facing Mayfair of Lakewood after Laguna Beach. “We’ll see.”

Hitchens was correct, but he also lost another starter.

For the second time this season, CdM shut out Laguna Beach, but the No. 2-seeded Sea Kings lost Dillon Norton late in the 41-0 victory in the quarterfinals of the CIF Southern Section Southern Division playoffs Friday.

Everyone on the CdM sideline saw Norton fall hard after returning a punt with 5 minutes, 16 seconds left. Some heard his left leg snap.

Norton was on his back being attended to by medical personnel. For 15 minutes, Hitchens tried to look back at what just had happened on the 26-yard return.

Sure, the Sea Kings (10-2) were heading to their first semifinal playoff game since 1995. But down on the field was a senior who contributed in all facets of the game.

“Depending on who you ask, he could probably be our most valuable player,” said Hitchens, referring to Norton’s big-play ability at wide receiver, cornerback, running back, and returning kicks. “To be honest with you, I looked out there and was hoping Dillon would just let the ball bounce [on the return]. He let it bounce, he picked it up and he tried to return it.

“We weren’t really planning on setting up any kind of return.”

CdM now has to plan its strategy without Norton.

Hitchens said Norton broke his left leg and is out for the season. Quarterback Mitch Sands, like most teammates, saw it all happen.

Sands was having a remarkable night. He recorded three rushing touchdowns and threw for two, leaving him one shy of 22, the school’s single-season record.

None of it mattered.

“Nobody is really thinking about the record,” Sands said. “[Norton] is definitely [a] huge [loss].”

CdM will miss Norton.

His contributions against Laguna Beach (5-7) were evident, from a 43-yard punt return in the second quarter allowing the Sea Kings to blow the game open, 28-0, at halftime.

Norton and the rest of the secondary shut down Laguna Beach receiver Chris Paul, who had 17 catches for 284 yards and five touchdowns in the previous two games.

Paul finished with just two receptions for 11 yards.

Next is Mayfair (9-3), a team some argued deserved the No. 2 seed because it won a league championship, unlike CdM.

Hitchens, whose team placed second in the Pacific Coast League to top-seeded Laguna Hills, understands the complaints.

“Mayfair probably should’ve gotten the No. 2 seed,” Hitchens said. “They were a league champion [in the Suburban League]. They played a real tough [nonleague] schedule [playing Moorpark, Los Alamitos and Lakewood].”

The two programs get to settle it on the field next week at a site to be determined by a coin flip. It will be a challenge for CdM without one of its playmakers. There is a lot at stake, more than Sands possibly surpassing Taylor Hughes’ single-season touchdown record, or team egos.

The Sea Kings are one victory away from competing for their first section championship since 1989, when CdM completed its back-to-back title run.

Making a run at a championship is a major reason why CdM hired Hitchens, a proven winner, who won a section crown at St. Margaret’s in 2006.

The challenge to turn a program around in seven months is the reason Hitchens took the job in April.

Hitchens saw the potential before he could name players at CdM, which missed the playoffs last season. He now knows more than their names.

Prolonging the season has given Hitchens plenty of time to familiarize himself with his roster.

The Sea Kings won their fifth straight game after ridding themselves of the opening-game jitters.

They lasted until the 45-second mark in the first quarter, when Sands ran in the first of his three short-yardage touchdowns.

With injuries piling up, CdM might be running out of time.

“Losing [Norton] and [linebacker] Justin Tam on top of that [last week], losing your kicker [Andrew Boehm last week], losing your [free] safety [Will Morrow on Oct. 24],” Hitchens said is devastating.

CORONA DEL MAR 41, LAGUNA BEACH 0

SCORE BY QUARTERS

CdM 7-21-6-7--41

Laguna 0-0-0-0--0

FIRST QUARTER

CdM – Sands 3 run (Dalton kick), 0:45.

SECOND QUARTER

CdM – Haase 30 pass from Sands (Dalton kick), 5:35.

CdM – Molnar 50 pass from Sands (Dalton kick), 9:39.

CdM – Abbott 2 run (Dalton kick), 2:35.

THIRD QUARTER

CdM – Sands 8 run (kick failed), 5:12.

FOURTH QUARTER

CdM – Sands 2 run (Dalton kick), 7:49.

INDIVIDUAL RUSHING

CdM – Swigert, 9-95; Sands, 14-83, 3 TDs; Burkhart, 5-40; Abbott, 10-29, 1 TD; Herrera, 1-1; Iverson, 2-minus 2.

LB – Smith, 9-13; Kaplan, 5-12; Stevenson, 3-9; Snedegar, 2-5; Paxson, 2-minus 16.

INDIVIDUAL PASSING

CdM – Sands, 10-14-0, 153, 2 TDs.

LB – Paxson, 7-23-2, 75.

INDIVIDUAL RECEIVING

CdM – Molnar, 4-87, 1 TD; Haase, 2-32, 1 TD; Swigert, 3-31; Abbott, 1-3.

LB – Reigel, 4-51; Snedegar, 1-13; Paul, 2-11.

DAVID CARRILLO PEÑALOZA may be reached at (714) 966-4612 or at david.carrillo@latimes.com.