Motivated Sailors edge CdM

CORONA DEL MAR — Before Newport Harbor High’s freshman football team faced its Back Bay rival, Coach Joe Urban unfolded a paper and read a letter to his players.

It was a letter passed down to him from varsity coach Jeff Brinkley, who also used it to motivate his players before one of the biggest games of the season.

In 1989, Jeff Williams, a defensive back, wrote a letter to his teammates before the Sailors played in the Battle of the Bay. Back then, the inspirational words helped Newport Harbor score an 8-7 win against Corona del Mar.

The words challenged: If you don’t play with all your heart in this game, it will haunt you for the rest of your life.

Newport Harbor’s freshmen needed that reminder at Corona del Mar Thursday, when the Sailors put together just enough big plays to hold on for a 22-15 win.

Brinkley had received the Williams letter from a parent before the season and he was waiting for this game to share it with the team. It was good timing for the varsity, who scored a 37-7 win Thursday night, and the freshmen, whose defense turned away the Sea Kings late in the game.

Corona del Mar appeared to have grabbed the momentum with 2 minutes, 40 seconds remaining, just after Kai Wilson scored from eight yards out and brought the Sea Kings (2-2) to within, 22-15.

Shortly after Newport Harbor (2-1) started on offense, the Sailors fumbled the ball and Blake Grable recovered at the Sea King 48. But that’s when Newport’s defense stepped up as it had throughout the game.

The Sea Kings were able to earn a first down and drive to the Newport Harbor 36, but on fourth-and-six, the Sailors’ Nathan Frank and Tyler Palmquist teamed up to sack the quarterback, crushing CdM’s hopes of a comeback. The Sailors then ran out the clock for the win.

“The kids played with a lot of heart,” Urban said. “I read them a letter actually from a player that played in 1989, that Coach Brinkley gave me. It talks about this [Battle of the Bay] game how important it was to him. It just said, what wins this game is a bunch of guys that play hard with a lot of heart. I think [Derek Kula and Ritter Hagedorn], along with the rest of the team, really exemplified that.”

Hagedorn ran back the opening kickoff 68 yards. Then on the Sailors’ first offensive play, Colby Koste ran in for a 17-yard touchdown. Later in the quarter, the teams exchanged fumbles, with Newport Harbor’s Brian Robbs recovering a loose ball, but then CdM’s Jordan Salisbury gaining one right back. That put the Sea Kings on the Newport nine and that’s where Cayman Carter threw a picture-perfect pass to Troy Reese. CdM also converted on a two-point pass from the Carter-Reese connection and it was 8-8.

Hagedorn delivered another big play in the second quarter, picking off a pass and taking the interception back 13 yards for the touchdown.

Kula also had a highlight-reel-type play in the third quarter. He recovered a fumble and ran it back 44 yards to the CdM one-yard line. Hagedorn then caught a TD pass from Zach Wade, who also completed a two-point conversion pass to Dustin Long for a 22-8 lead.

“It was a good chance to make a play,” Kula said of what he thought when he saw the ball for his taking. “I came up with the ball and I tried to take it all the way. I’ll take what I got, but yeah, of course I was disappointed [not to score]. But we came out on top so that’s good.”

CdM used a lot of clock late in the third, using 14 plays to drive 66 yards to the CdM nine-yard line. But a personal foul penalty pushed the Sea Kings back, and the Sailors’ defense stuffed them again.

Wilson stood out for the Sea Kings, rushing for 116 yards and a touchdown on 28 carries.