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NEWPORT BEACH – Preston Risser grew up playing soccer, basketball and baseball.

Whatever sport was in season, that's what Risser would play -- and he was good at all of them.

"He was playing all those three sports and he was only 10 years old," Risser's father, Rick, said. "Dads would come up and say, 'Hey, Preston, what's your favorite sport?' And it was always, 'I love football.' I was like, 'Timeout. It can't be football yet, because you've never played the sport.' "

Once Risser suited up for the Seahawks in Pop Warner, he knew he wanted to play defense.

"When I got the pads on, it was all defense from there," Risser said. "I don't like running routes and getting hit. I like going after the guys and making plays. I don't have much finesse. I'm just a straight-ahead player."

He's been making a lot of plays for Corona del Mar High's football team this season. Risser and his teammates have shut down teams with their stellar defensive play to help the Sea Kings reach the CIF-SS Southern Division semifinals. They will play Beckman -- a Pacific Coast League rival -- at 7 p.m. Saturday at Tustin High.

Football is in Risser's blood. His father, Rick, and uncles, Randy and Royce, played at Los Altos High of Hacienda Heights and in college.

"It was part of our family," Rick said. "I played football in college and my two brothers played football in college, so probably as he grew up and saw some of the conversations we had about football and watching football on Saturday and all weekend we're watching college and pro football, so he just gravitated toward it."

Rick's older brother, Randy, played for Bill Walsh at Stanford. Rick and his younger brother, Royce, went on to play in the SEC at Vanderbilt.

"During my time, we played at Anaheim Stadium in the last AAAA championship (in 1976) against Fontana and I was still a freshman at that time," Rick said. "My older brother played in that game and we beat Fontana. The next year they stopped the AAAA, AAA and AA thing and went to the conference thing and we went into the Big-Five Conference, which was like the Pac-5. We played St. Paul in Anaheim Stadium. We won back-to-back championships, so it was really fun."

Rick and Randy were wide receivers in high school, but Royce played linebacker.

"He (Royce) was the one, I guess, if you were going to draw some comparisons for Preston, it was my youngest brother," Rick said. "He was the slowest of us, which Preston is not that fast. He (Preston) finds a way to find the ball. They all do on defense."

Risser wasn't even born when Corona del Mar made its last trip to the finals, winning back-to-back championships from 1988-89.

Corona del Mar and Beckman met in the regular-season finale and the Sea Kings pulled out a 17-15 victory. Corona del Mar's offense was struggling, but the defense held Beckman to 73 rushing yards. Beckman has since exploded for 898 rushing yards, 12 rushing TDs and 115 points in two playoff victories.

"Defensively, we had an awesome game," Risser said of the Beckman game. "We got put in some rough situations. That was the game where the defensive guys were like, 'Hey, let's be happy we're on the field.' Don't be, 'Ahh, we gotta go back on the field. Let's be excited to be on the field.' We held it together and played a great game. I was so tired after that game. That was a long game, but it was such a fun game."

Corona del Mar's defense isn't loaded with incredible size or blue-chip prospects, but that doesn't stop them. Risser, who is a 5-foot-10, 180-pounder, has 102 tackles, four forced fumbles, eight tackles for loss, two interceptions and a sack. There's Jon Metcalfe, Stephen Ascher and Alex Herrera on the defensive line. David Detrick and Aaron White join Risser at linebacker. Cole Cottrell and Austin Jones are the shut-down cornerbacks. Free safety Pete Markel is always roaming and making big hits.

"Preston has a very high football IQ -- he is like having another coach on the field," Sea Kings coach Jason Hitchens said. "I look at him as being the 'eye of the hurricane' -- there can be chaos all around him and he will be the calm. He is the backbone of our defense. We do not have any superstars, just a bunch of blue-collar players that work extremely hard and believe in themselves as well each other, a true team. He is some of the glue that holds us together."

Risser is one of 25 seniors that have been together since their freshmen year.

"We're all super close and I think that's helped a lot," Risser said. "We've all worked real hard in the offseason. I think that's what's paid off."

http://www.ocvarsity.com/articles/risser-24092-football-played.html