Niners Overhaul Hawks Top Draft Picks See First Action During 49ers’ 21-17 Victory

Backup quarterback Jon Kitna gave the Seattle Seahawks a late lead. Backup quarterback Jeff Brohm gave the San Francisco 49ers the last lead.

Brohm threw a 1-yard touchdown pass to Chadd Fann with 12:32 remaining, and the 49ers beat the Seahawks 21-17 in an exhibition Saturday night that also marked coach Steve Mariucci’s home debut.

Seattle starter John Friesz was 5 of 10 for 36 yards and had one interception.

Backup Warren Moon followed him and completed 9 of 15 for 78 yards, including a 20-yard touchdown pass to Joey Galloway for the Seahawks’ first touchdown.

“It’s not the way I wanted to start out,” Friesz said. “We had a chance to be successful offensively. We didn’t run the ball well. I didn’t throw the ball well. We had some protection problems. It was a little bit of everything. We need to be sharper.”

Tackle Walter Jones and cornerback Shawn Springs, Seattle’s two first-round draft picks, saw their first action since signing contracts earlier this week. The 49ers’ top draft pick, quarterback Jim Druckenmiller, also played for the first time since he joined the club 10 days ago.

Jones held his own against defensive end Chris Doleman but didn’t pick up a safety blitz by Merton Hanks that resulted in one of five sacks by the 49ers. Springs broke up a couple of passes intended for J.J. Stokes while Druckenmiller, whose first two throws drew pass interference penalties, completed 5 of 7 for 47 yards in the late going.

“Mistakes hurt us but they’re ones we can go back and correct,” Springs said. “I felt pretty good. Everybody told me to be myself and not try to be Superman.”

The 49ers (1-1) got their first exhibition victory but the Seahawks (1-2) broke through a patchwork offensive line for five sacks.

Seattle, down 14-7 at halftime, got 10 points in the third quarter on Todd Peterson’s 32-yard field goal and Kitna’s 7-yard scoring pass to James McKnight to go in front 17-14.

Moon relieved Friesz midway through the second quarter and threw a touchdown pass to Galloway. The Seattle receiver got behind defensive backs Tyronne Drakeford and Zack Bronson to make the catch in the corner of the end zone with 3:34 left in the second quarter.

Defensive tackle Dan Saleaumua, a free agent who signed with the Seahawks last Monday, set up the score when he burst through the line to tackle Garrison Hearst, stripping the ball from him and recovering at the San Francisco 32.

“It was a good first win,” Mariucci said. “We got out to a quick start. I thought we got a little sloppy at times and we didn’t regain our wits until the fourth quarter.”

But there was a downside for San Francisco as center Chris Dalman and return specialist Chuck Levy suffered injuries that are expected to keep them out five weeks.

Seattle was without two of its starters, running back Chris Warren (ribs) and wide receiver Brian Blades (bruised knee). They were injured during the Seahawks’ 34-6 exhibition win over Arizona last week.