Prep football: Proud programs collide

Barry Faulkner

NEWPORT BEACH - Newport Harbor High football coach Jeff Brinkley

and La Mirada head man John Mele, whose teams square off tonight at 7 in

the CIF Southern Section Division VI semifinals at Harbor’s Davidson

Field, have crossed paths before.

But since Brinkley left Norwalk and the Suburban League to take over

for the Sailors’ program 15 seasons ago, and Mele ascended from

assistant to Matadores head coach two years later, they’ve had to follow

each other’s career from afar.

And, with the kind of sustained success rarely found at public high

schools, there has been plenty of mutual admiration, particularly since

1992.

Beginning in ‘92, Brinkley’s Sailors have won two section titles

(Division V in ’94 and Division VI last fall) and two Sea View League

crowns and advanced to the section championship game four times. The Tars

are making their sixth trip to the semifinals and are 87-24-1 during that

span, including an 18-4 postseason record.

During the same time period, La Mirada won the CIF Division VIII crown

in ‘92, captured 8 of 9 Suburban League championships and reached the

section final five times. The Matadores are an impressive 98-17-2 during

that stretch, including 20-7 in the playoffs.

Something, however, has to give tonight, when the fourth-seeded

Sailors (10-2) tackle the top-seeded Matadores (12-0) before a crowd

expected to exceed the stadium’s 5,000-seat capacity.

“It’s gong to be quite a battle,” said Brinkley, whose Sea View

runners-up have gotten here with a physical, ground-oriented offense

fueled by senior tailback Chris Manderino (1,797 yards and 29

touchdowns).

La Mirada, meanwhile, has blown the doors off opponents with a

prolific offense fueled by the passing talent of senior quarterback Erik

Meyer (2,788 yards and 36 TDs).

The Matadores have beaten all but two foes by at least 24 points,

outscoring the competition, 593-204. Only Leuzinger, a 49-34 victim in

Week 2, and Fountain Valley, a 35-27 casualty in Week 3, have kept Mele’s

starters on the field for the fourth quarter.

La Mirada senior receiver Bo Price has amassed 1,416 receiving yards

and 22 TDs on 56 catches (reaching the end zone roughly twice for every

five receptions). He has also returned three punts to paydirt.

Manderino, who quarterbacked last year’s CIF champions and began this

season under center before shifting to tailback the second half of Game

2, has continued to assault the school record book.

He is tied for second in single-season TDs (one behind the record),

second in career TDs (37), seventh in single-season rushing yards, sixth

in career rushing yards (2,010) and third in career games of at least 100

rushing yards (10).

Manderino has accomplished most of this in just 34 quarters as the

tailback, the equivalent of 8 1/2 games. He has 348 yards and eight TDs

in two playoff games this season, despite sitting out three quarters.

This is the second meeting between the two schools. Harbor earned a

6-0 victory in the 1985 Central Conference quarterfinals, the season

before Brinkley arrived.