Newport dominates

COSTA MESA — Last year, Corona del Mar High football coach Jason Hitchens got his first mouthful of the Battle of the Bay.

Walking with his team near the home stands before the game at Newport Harbor, Hitchens heard the noise.

“It was a unique sound for one thing,” said Hitchens, now in his second year. “Having 7- and 8-year-olds telling you why you suck, basically how they feel about you, when you come on to the field was different.”

Hitchens and his Sea Kings didn’t have to deal with any overzealous kids before this year’s game.

The Sea Kings chose a site away from Newport Harbor for Thursday’s 48th edition of the rivalry game. They still had to face the Sailors Thursday and again that proved to be an issue.

The Sailors walloped CdM, 37-7, in front of an overflowing crowd of close to 8,000 fans at Orange Coast College. The difference this year compared to years past was more fans.

Instead of playing at Davidson Field, an additional 3,000 fans watched Newport Harbor manhandle the Sea Kings for the third straight year and beat them for the 10th time in the last 11 contests.

The Sailors improved to 3-0 on the season and handed the Sea Kings (3-1) their first loss. They also lead the Battle of the Bay series, 35-13.

Coach Jeff Brinkley is one victory away from No. 200 for his career at Newport Harbor. Hitchens congratulated Brinkley afterward.

“That’s on the back burner,” said Brinkley, who’s in his 24th year. “People make too big a deal about [No. 200].”

Only seven other Orange County coaches have reached the career milestone for wins.

The way the defense is playing Newport Harbor has a strong shot of giving Brinkley win No. 200 on the road at Dana Hills next week. Against CdM, ranked No. 2 in the CIF Southern Section Southern Division poll, the Sailors took a page out of a spectator’s game plan on the sideline Thursday.

Tito Ortiz, an MMA fighter from Huntington Beach, followed the game. Newport Harbor used some “ground and pound” on the field.

Cedric Whitaker topped 100 yards for the second straight week, finishing with 136 and one touchdown on 17 carries.

Newport Harbor’s defense was relentless, forcing two fumbles, intercepting a pass and sacking the quarterback five times. The Sailors, who also blocked a punt, allowed less than 100 yards on the ground and through the air.

CdM, which had been averaging 42 points per game, was outscored by Newport kicker Dillan Freiberg (three field goals and four extra-point kicks). The Sea Kings entered the game with the possibility of having three starters out due to the flu. Two played.

Newport Harbor quarterback Austin Rios threw for three touchdowns and finished 11 for 18 passing for 113 yards. One of his two 10-yard touchdown tosses to wide receiver Parker Norton came as time expired before halftime.

This is where things turned ugly for CdM. After trying to run the clock out inside their own 20-yard line on fourth down, the Sea Kings left one second on the clock.

Quarterback Michael Borchard went down on the 10. Soon, the Sea Kings went down, 20-0.

With the clock stopping on the change of possession, Rios hit a wide-open Norton for an easy touchdown.

“It gave us a lot of momentum going into the second half,” Rios said.

Hitchens shook his head in disgust.

Newport Harbor 37, Corona del Mar 7

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Newport Harbor 0-20-10-7--37

Corona del Mar 0-0-0-7--7

SECOND QUARTER

NH – Whitaker 7 run (Freiberg kick), 9:30.

NH – Freiberg 42 FG, 5:37.

NH – Freiberg 35 FG, 1:42.

NH – Norton 10 pass from Rios (Freiberg kick), 0:00.

THIRD QUARTER

NH – Freiberg 27 FG, 6:47.

NH – Norton 10 pass from Rios (Freiberg kick), 4:07.

FOURTH QUARTER

NH – Whiteside 3 pass from Rios (Freiberg kick), 8:50.

CdM – Christian 4 pass from Borchard (Boehm kick), 0:17.

INDIVIDUAL RUSHING

NH – Whitaker, 17-136, 1 TD; Gomez, 2-24; Diller, 4-18; Swies, 5-14; Andrews, 2-6; Blower, 1-minus 2; Rios, 2-minus 15.

CdM – Abbott, 13-84; Swigert, 4-5; Fisher, 2-8; Borchard, 8-minus 19.

INDIVIDUAL PASSING

NH – Rios, 11-18-0, 113, 3 TDs; Blower, 0-1-0, 0.

CdM – Borchard, 11-20-1, 99, 1 TD.

INDIVIDUAL RECEIVING

NH – Andrews, 1-32; Iverson, 3-27; Norton, 3-26, 2 TDs; Whiteside, 2-15, 1 TD; Diller, 1-8; Gomez, 1-5.

CdM – Tam, 3-34; Jones, 1-18; Napolitano, 1-15; Abbott, 2-12; Dalton, 1-8; Christian, 3-12, 1 TD.