Sailors rush to judgment

WESTMINSTER — Newport Harbor High’s football team is back in the playoffs, this time in the CIF Southern Section Pac-5 Division playoffs.

After missing the playoffs last year, the Sailors return to the postseason with their 42-7 Sunset League win over Marina, and because Los Alamitos lost to Esperanza Friday.

Faced with the suggestion that he should give his starting offensive linemen the game ball, Newport Harbor High’s Coach Jeff Brinkley didn’t have to ponder it for very long.

“Yeah, we should,” Brinkley said Friday night after his Sailors’ win over Marina at Westminster High. “We should. And our tight end, [Dusty] Campbell, did a great job blocking too.”

More game balls might be needed, because the five offensive linemen — left tackle Nate Castillo, left guard Peter Kinney, center Jerry Whitney, right guard Nate Talbot and right tackle Scott Ward — dominated the action.

They allowed the Sailors (7-2, 3-1 in league) to rush for 297 yards, and also to stay in a tie for first place in league. That means Newport Harbor’s regular-season finale against Edison (also 3-1 in league after beating Fountain Valley Friday), on Thursday night at Newport Harbor High, is for a share of the league title.

The 42 points represents a season-high for the Sailors. Still, it was a defensive play early that helped set the tone.

On the game’s first play from scrimmage, Newport Harbor linebacker Ned Lyon picked off Marina quarterback Zach Couey, giving the Tars first down on the Vikings 19.

Three Ben Frazier runs later and Newport Harbor had the game’s first touchdown.

The Sailors added to that score on their second possession of the game, using seven runs by Frazier and a play-action pass to Brandon Kula to create first-and-goal at the one-yard line. Quarterback Andrew McDonald then dove into the end zone to put Marina (3-6, 0-4) into a 14-0 hole.

After Campbell recovered a fumble at midfield, JB Green caught a six-yard strike from McDonald for another score with 6:13 left in the half, and the Sailors were rolling.

Not that McDonald had to do much more than hand the ball off and hold Dillan Freiberg’s point-after touchdown attempts. The quarterback threw just three passes in the game, but two — to Green and Campbell — were for touchdowns.

“We had everything in our script — the pass, the run, the whole shot,” Brinkley said. “We were ready to pass, and we’ve been throwing it real well. Tonight, we just didn’t need to. It’s a lot easier handing it off then winging it all over.”

In the second half, Frazier let some of his teammates get in on the ground game fun, namely senior Woody Yokoyama. He scored from two yards out on the Sailors’ second possession of the half. Then, after a Marina turnover-on-downs, Yokoyama was off to the races again, bursting up the middle for a 62-yard touchdown run.

“The line was amazing,” Yokoyama said. “Our line made huge holes for us, and you just go from there. It’s easy...We all cheer each other on and have a good time. Everyone just loves playing.”

Chase Palanjian and Joel Gutierrez also ripped off some impressive runs in the fourth quarter, when the Tars ran nearly eight minutes off the clock with a 77-yard drive.

Tough to watch for first-year Marina Coach Dan Petrone, whose team finally got on the board with a touchdown in the fourth quarter. His normal starting quarterback, Tim Atencio, was limited after suffering a concussion during last week’s game against Fountain Valley. On Friday, Atencio played receiver but never quarterback.

The cause of Marina also wasn’t helped with a six-yard punt in the third quarter or the pair of turnovers.

“Right now our tackling is killing us, and you can’t turn the ball over against a good team,” Petrone said. “You can’t have to beat two teams on game night.”

The other team still tied for first in the league is Esperanza, which beat Los Alamitos, 30-24, on Friday night.

MATT SZABO may be reached at (714) 966-4614 or by e-mail at [email protected].

FIRST QUARTER

NH – Frazier 4 run (Freiberg kick), 10:40.

NH – McDonald 1 run (Freiberg kick), 0:49.

SECOND QUARTER

NH – Green 6 pass from McDonald (Freiberg kick), 6:13.

THIRD QUARTER

NH – Campbell 21 pass from McDonald (Freiberg kick), 10:03.

NH – Yokoyama 2 run (Freiberg kick), 7:04.

NH – Yokoyama 62 run (Freiberg kick), 3:25.

FOURTH QUARTER

M – Couey 1 run (Robinson kick), 8:26.

INDIVIDUAL RUSHING

NH – Frazier, 11-93, 1 TD; Yokoyama, 4-81, 2 TDs; Palanjian, 6-52; Helfrich, 4-38; Gutierrez, 5-18; Kula, 2-11; McDonald, 2-4, 1 TD.

M – Wilson, 10-55; Brown, 7-23; Atencio, 1-5; Couey, 9-minus 15, 1 TD.

INDIVIDUAL PASSING

NH – McDonald, 3-3-0, 33, 2 TDs.

M – Couey, 16-31-1, 166.

INDIVIDUAL RECEIVING

NH – Campbell, 1-21, 1 TD; Green, 1-6, 1 TD; Kula, 1-6.

M – Thompson, 6-67; Irvin, 3-48; Hogan, 3-26; Wilson, 3-19; Brown, 1-6.