Tars on the mend

Patrick Laverty

The last two times Newport Harbor High’s football team began the

season 5-0 and then lost its sixth game, the Sailors fell in their

seventh game as well.

The last two times Newport Harbor traveled to Aliso Niguel the

Sailors won, but only by scores of 14-9 and 14-7. Those small margins

are a far cry from the 35-6 and 42-7 victories Newport Harbor has

posted against the Wolverines at home.

The Sailors (5-1, 0-1 in the Sea View League) will be fighting

both those trends Friday at 7 p.m. when they travel to Aliso Niguel

(4-2, 1-0).

Newport Harbor, ranked sixth in CIF Southern Section Division VI,

is coming off a frustrating, 31-24 loss to Foothill and the

Wolverines have always seemed to play the Sailors tough at home.

The game is crucial for Harbor, which can’t afford to fall too far

behind in the league race with tough games against Irvine and Laguna

Hills on the horizon.

Despite the loss to Foothill, there were some positives to come

out of the game.

Senior tailback Matt Encinias rushed for more than 100 yards for

the fifth time in six games. He now has 708 yards this season on 134

carries. But although he is averaging 5.3 yards per carry, Encinias

hasn’t broken a run longer than 33 yards this season. In fact, he has

just 19 double-digit gains in six games this season.

“He probably never will [break a long run],” Sailors Coach Jeff

Brinkley said. “He’s not that type of back. He doesn’t have that kind

of breakaway speed.”

Wide receiver Spencer Link (30 catches for 525 yards and nine

touchdowns) has shown breakaway speed and he displayed it again on an

89-yard kickoff return for a touchdown against Foothill. It begs the

question of whether teams will continue to kick the ball in the

direction of the junior standout.

“I don’t know,” Brinkley said. “We’ve got two pretty good guys

back there with Matt [Encinias]. Two pretty capable guys. Our kickoff

team has been playing really well. Two weeks in a row we’ve had big

returns. All our special teams have played well.”

So has quarterback Kasey Peters, who completed 14 of 22 passes for

172 yards and a touchdown last week, though he threw his first

interception of the season. For the season, Peters has completed 60

of 106 passes for 845 yards and 12 touchdowns.

Aliso Niguel will likely attempt to confuse Peters this week.

“Defensively, they move around,” Brinkley said. “They run a

variety of coverages. It’s going to be another challenge for our

offense.”

The Wolverines’ offense relies primarily on its ground attack.

Running back Adam Huebner leads the team with 477 yards rushing and

six touchdowns. Aliso Niguel will also run some option and

quarterback Scott Brown has gained 208 yards on the ground, while

throwing for 545 yards.

Newport Harbor had difficulty against the run against Foothill,

allowing Mike Alba to gain 165 yards rushing.

“We play basically five in the box,” Brinkley said. “We were going

to make sure they didn’t throw the bubble screen outside and some of

the other things they like to do. We thought they could peck away but

we didn’t want to give them any big plays.”

That will likely be the game plan again this week as the Sailors

attempt to rebound from a loss for the first time this season.