Tars’ dream ending came to (last) pass

Rick Devereux

The stars seemed to be aligned just right for the Newport Harbor High

football team in Friday’s 24-17 CIF Southern Section Division VI

semifinal win over Mayfair at Cerritos College.

Newport (12-0-1), seeded No. 2, will face top-seeded Orange

Lutheran (12-1) Saturday at 2 p.m. at Angel Stadium in the

championship game.

The Lancers beat Villa Park, 21-3, in Saturday’s semifinal

contest. Orange Lutheran lost to Los Altos, 21-17, in the title game

last year.

To get the championship, Newport relied heavily on the arm of

senior quarterback Kasey Peters.

Peters finished with a career-high 321 passing yards against

Mayfair. His 18 completions tied a career best set earlier this year

against Aliso Niguel.

“We’ve waited for a game like that,” Newport Harbor Coach Jeff

Brinkley said. “We haven’t had to throw the ball that much in games

this year.”

The most dramatic pass Peters threw was one he has practiced the

least.

The pass was set up when linebacker Taylor Young recovered a

fumble on Mayfair’s 30-yard line with 12 seconds remaining.

It was the first offensive play for the Monsoons after Newport’s

Travis Duffield tied the game on a 28-yard field goal with 25 seconds

left.

“That was a clutch shot right there [by Duffield],” Brinkley said.

“Once we got to that point, really our minds shifted to overtime.”

On Newport’s first play after the fumble recovery, Peters heaved a

lob to the end zone and Alex Orth out-jumped three defenders to come

down with the game-winning touchdown with four seconds left.

“Alex made a great catch and Kasey threw it exactly where he had

to,” Brinkley said. “Sometimes a quarterback will throw the ball out

of bounds either too long or too wide, but Kasey put it in a perfect

place. Everything was done correctly.”

The fact it was done correctly was particularly interesting,

considering the Tars had not performed the play since September.

“We don’t practice the play,” Brinkley said. “We talk about the

play with the kids and remind them of their responsibilities, but we

don’t practice it a lot.”

The touchdown was Orth’s fifth on offense and sixth overall in the

playoffs. He had a 21-yard interception return against El Dorado in

the opening round.

“Alex has played really well in the playoffs,” Brinkley said. “He

has been an impact player in terms of finding the end zone for us.”

Peters and the aerial attack opened up because the ground game was

slowed.

Trevor Theriot, who is among 12 national finalists for the Wendy’s

High School Heisman Award, was used primarily at running back against

Mayfair.

Young, who recovered the fumble that set up the game-winning pass,

was positioned at Theriot’s usual outside linebacker spot.

Brinkley said Theriot had a sore ankle.

Theriot ran the ball three times in the opening-round win over El

Dorado before exiting after a tackle from behind injured his ankle.

But the senior had a game-high 30 carries and 133 rushing yards in

a quarterfinal win over Charter Oak.

Against Mayfair, Theriot gained 53 yards on 18 carries. Brinkley

said Theriot’s rushing numbers were more a result of Mayfair’s

defense than a sore ankle.

“We knew they were physical up front,” Brinkley said. “We weren’t

going to be able to be one-dimensional on offense and just pound the

ball on the them.”

Theriot did not care about his rushing numbers, only that the team

has a chance at a title.

“The most important thing is we’re playing in Angel Stadium,” he

said.

Saturday will be Brinkley’s sixth championship game as Newport’s

coach. He won the Division V title in 1994 and the Division VI crown

in 1999.

“I’m real happy for our coaching staff and particularly for the

kids,” he said. “This game is really a reward for all their hard work

this season. It’s also a reward for the community because we get a

lot of support from the community.”