Taking different sides

Back in eighth-grade, no one mentioned Brandon Kula and strapping in the same sentence.

“I was a cornerback back in the day,” Kula admits.

Dutch Lamons, a teammate back then, has a more fitting description.

“Kula was a small, little boy,” Lamons said. “He’s grown a little bit.”

Everyone has matured since that eighth-grade year.

Kula and Lamons, and more than a dozen players from that Newport-Mesa Junior All-American Midget Seahawks team, meet again on a football field tonight.

Perhaps this is the last time in their playing careers.

Kula and Lamons were teammates back then. Now they’re senior rivals.

Kula is at Newport Harbor High (1-1), Lamons at Corona del Mar (3-0), ranked No. 5 in the CIF Southern Section Southern Division coaches’ poll. The two programs meet in the 47th Battle of the Bay game at Davidson Field at 7.

Kula is no longer that “small, little boy.” Kula is three inches taller and 35 pounds heavier than Lamons now.

Stanford and Arizona State are recruiting Kula, a 6-foot-2, 220-pound linebacker.

Lamons is impressed and happy for his fellow linebacker. The former teammates consider themselves close friends.

On the field, that’s a different story.

“This means everything, ultimate respect in town,” said Kula, who’s 1-1 in Battle of the Bay varsity games.

Tonight is the tiebreaker. Newport Harbor leads the overall series, 33-13.

“Battle of the Bay is like the Super Bowl,” said Lamons, who’s 1-1 in Battle of the Bay varsity games.

Before entering high school, Lamons and Kula worked together to reach the Super Bowl. The youth football one is all they cared about before the Battle of the Bay.

The Seahawks came close in 2004. They reached the semifinals against one of the top seeds, Carson, at Jackie Robinson Stadium in Los Angeles.

The starting quarterback was Mitch Sands, now CdM’s. The top running back was Michael Helfrich, now a Newport Harbor two-way stud. The tight end was Will Ham, now a left tackle at CdM. The speedster was JB Green, now Harbor’s all-purpose threat.

Everyone had a role, from future Sea Kings Tyler Haly, Noah Molnar, Alex Swigert, J.D. Abbott, to future Sailors Nick Svendsen, Danny Miller, Adrian Luchs and Michael McKay.

All of these players are standouts. Put them together, you have a star-studded team. The coach was Brent Melbon and he was aware of his roster.

“A lot of good kids,” said Melbon, now the head football coach at Dana Hills High.

Melbon will most likely be at tonight’s game. To scout the Sailors, Dana Hills’ opponent on Oct. 3, and to see his former players.

There are countless of memories from that 10-3 Seahawk season. Kula remembers the big games.

“We were going against all the teams in Inglewood, Compton, Carson, and we were this team from Newport,” Kula said.

Lamons never forgets Helfrich’s nickname. He earned it on the road from the public address announcer while playing a team from Los Angeles County.

“What did they call him?” said Lamons, all giddy. “The Glider. The [announcer was like], ‘Oh man, we got the Glider over here.’ He was so fast.”

Sands recalls sleeping on a chair the night before a game against Irvine. Half the team spent the night at Lamons’ house.

“Yeah, it was a pretty stiff night,” said Sands, still adjusting his back from that night’s sleep.

“We were undefeated,” Lamons said. “We were doing so good and this is a bad team. They beat us. Everybody still blames it on me because of the sleepover.”

No one planned a sleepover party before tonight’s game.

Why? This isn’t eighth-grade anymore. Look at Kula.

DAVID CARRILLO PEÑALOZA may be reached at (714) 966-4612 or at [email protected].