Tars hold on, 28-26

Barry Faulkner

In a high school football game with more than most to digest, host

Newport Harbor had just enough to make sure it was Laguna Hills that

swallowed hardest Friday night. The Hawks came away with a

craw-sticking 28-26 Sea View League loss that keeps the Sailors right

in the thick of the league title race with just two regular-season

games remaining.

“Huge game, right here,” Sailors Coach Jeff Brinkley said after

his Tars (6-2, 2-1 in league) rallied from a 10-0 deficit for the

second straight year to drop the Hawks (4-4, 1-2) into fifth place.

The win, combined with Aliso Niguel’s 21-16 upset of Irvine, lifted

the Sailors into a three-way tie for second place with Irvine and

Aliso.

The Sailors need only to defeat last-place Woodbridge Thursday at

Irvine, then knock off league-leading Foothill Nov. 14 to claim at

least a share of the league title they appeared thoroughly intent on

retaining against the Hawks.

Laguna Hills, which dropped its league opener, 39-33, to Foothill,

came within a juggled two-point conversion pass of a tie, after

rallying from a 28-13 deficit with two fourth-quarter touchdowns to

keep the estimated homecoming crowd of 4,100 in suspense.

Hawks quarterback Chris Lamkin lofted a conversion pass to the

deep corner of the end zone toward tight end Justin Walsh, after

fullback Adam Berutich plowed in from 2 yards out to make it 28-26

with 5:58 left in the game.

But cornerback Ben Soza retreated and leaped high to deflect the

ball, which then fell behind him, off the hands of Walsh, who had

fallen to the turf on his back.

It was not the final near-miss for Newport, however, as Laguna

Hills recovered a pooch onside kick, on which a Newport receiver

alertly called for a fair catch, but muffed the reception, allowing

Laguna Hills’ Dave Cheng to recover at the Sailors’ 44-yard line.

Laguna Hills, which had scored on five of its first eight

possessions, including touchdowns on its previous two, was faced with

a fourth-and-11 with 4:31 left, thanks in large part to a second-down

sack by Newport end Mac Posey, who jumped on Lamkin’s back for a

3-yard loss for the second of his two sacks.

Lamkin then threw deep along the northern sideline, but his

intended receiver stopped short on the route, allowing Soza to

intercept on his own 18.

Newport’s ground game, which produced just one carry for minus-1

yard in a first quarter dominated by the visitors, consumed the final

4:25, hammering away for three first downs to clinch the victory.

Victory appeared fleeting for Newport in the first 13 minutes,

when Laguna Hills put together scoring drives of 12 and 10 plays to

monopolize the ball and the momentum.

But Newport Harbor kick-started its offense, mixing senior

tailback Dartangan Johnson with the accurate passing of senior

quarterback Michael McDonald to ignite the crowd and the scoreboard.

Johnson, who finished with 140 yards on 22 carries, carried four

times on Harbor’s first touchdown drive, including a 38-yard bounce

around the left side and the 4-yard capper.

McDonald, who completed 14 of 22 for 214 yards, without an

interception, had two completions for 24 yards on the march, which,

after the first of four Joel Walker conversion kicks, pulled the

hosts within 10-7.

Laguna Hills answered with a penalty-laced 11-play procession the

produced a 24-yard Larson field goal that left Harbor just more than

four minutes to wrest the halftime lead.

After Johnson returned a kickoff 40 yards, Harbor went 56 yards on

just six plays, with Johnson’s 3-yard run the finalizer, to take a

14-13 lead with 2:17 left before intermission.

After Laguna went three-and-out, Harbor took over at its own 41

with 1:36 left and used just 73 seconds to claim a 21-13 lead, when

McDonald rolled left and hit Spencer Link on a 13-yard out pattern

for a 21-13 halftime advantage.

Newport continued to roll with the second-half kickoff, when Link

fielded a 40-yard touchdown bomb to cap a seven-play, 80-yard drive

that made it 28-13 with 9:38 left in the third quarter.

Link finished with nine catches for 135 yards and two TDs.

Harbor’s 28 points in just less than 12 minutes was a remarkable

turnaround after its offense barely saw the field in the first

period. The difference?

“We finally got the ball,” Brinkley said with a smile.

Newport produced 22 of the game’s 40 first downs and 359 of the

game’s 641 offensive yards.

“The offense won the game for us,” Posey said. “But when the

defense needed to make big plays, we came up with them.”

Laguna Hills was hampered by the loss of starting tailback Lorenzo

Jackson, who sustained an apparent concussion late in the first half

and did not return. Jackson had 67 yards on 14 carries, before

leaving the game.

“We played them tough, but we didn’t finish,” Hawks Coach Bruce

Ingalls said. “But give Newport credit, it didn’t give up. Our kids

battled for the whole 48. We’re a couple plays here or there away

from being 3-0 in league, including Foothill.”

Brinkley, who used the shotgun formation and ran a big reverse to

Link, said his offense was the difference.

“We moved the ball up and down the field, it was just a matter of

getting (the Hawks) stopped. I thought we had a pretty good offensive

package.”