Two-minute drill

Coach Jeff Brinkley came up short of his 200th career football victory at Newport Harbor High again.

The Sailors dropped their second straight nonleague game, falling, 24-10, at home Friday to Mira Costa of Manhattan Beach, ranked No. 2 in the CIF Southern Section Western Division poll last week.

Newport Harbor (3-2) is in a funk offensively. The Sailors have scored 17 points in their two combined losses. In the first three games of the season, the offense averaged 36.6 points per game.

“We’ve got to be able to move the ball and flip the field a little bit,” Brinkley said. “In the first half [against Mira Costa], we played with our backs to the wall. We couldn’t get it flipped around.

“We’ll watch film and see where we broke down and hopefully we can fix a few of the problems.”

Mira Costa (3-2) shut down Newport Harbor in the first half, forcing it to punt four times and limiting it to 72 yards of total offense. After halftime, the Sailors scored on a 33-yard field goal by Dillan Freiberg and a 10-yard pass by quarterback Austin Rios to wide receiver Cecil Whiteside.

That was all Newport Harbor managed. The Sailors finished with 182 yards on offense.

“We didn’t run the ball very well,” said Brinkley, whose team has been outrushed, 398-89, by Dana Hills and Mira Costa.

 Costa Mesa High set the tone at the start of Friday’s 48-34 nonleague win over Century by aggressively going for an onside kick that fell two-yards short of the 50-yard line.

The Mustangs offense in the first half, on the other hand, did not fall short at all.

Costa Mesa’s first offensive possession took 12 plays and resulted in a field goal. After that, the Mustangs scored touchdowns on three-straight possessions, each of which took fewer than nine plays.

The Mustangs’ scoring streak ended when a ballcarrier fumbled the ball away on the first play of the second half.

 Estancia High Coach Mike Bargas said Monday he was still awaiting word from a doctor on the condition of senior tailback Alex Abalos, who was sidelined in the second quarter of Friday’s 20-10 nonleague loss to visiting Ocean View with a left-knee injury.

Abalos has 1,011 rushing yards in six games this season.

Bargas said Abalos’ knee was still stiff on Monday, prompting a visit to a doctor.

“He’s obviously questionable for Friday [the Battle for the Bell and Orange Coast League opener against crosstown rival Costa Mesa at Estancia.],” Bargas said.

 Some of Estancia High’s first-half struggles Friday included some atypical difficulties on punts. The first three Estancia boots, all shanked toward the sideline, covered 14, 18 and eight yards.

Ocean View turned the 14-yard punt into a 62-yard touchdown drive and cashed the eight-yard wobbler to the Estancia 19-yard line into a 30-yard field goal.

 Estancia’s loss to Ocean View came a week after the Seahawks posted a 27-3 triumph over Costa Mesa.

Estancia (4-2) and Costa Mesa (3-3) square off Friday at 7 p.m. Costa Mesa will be the home team.

In preparation for the rivalry game, Estancia boosters were selling gold T-shirts with a green ghost caricature inside a red circle with a diagonal line, similar to the logo from the “Ghostbusters” movie. Estancia is billing the shirts as “Greenbusters,” since Costa Mesa’s primary color is green.

 Part of the Estancia success this season has come by not beating itself.

But two critical mistakes in the passing game, one on each side of the ball, proved costly late in the first half.

First, an Estancia pass sailed directly into the hands of cornerback Blake Walker, who collected the gift with no Estancia receiver within five yards of him and returned it 18 yards to the Eagles’ 27.

The ensuing Ocean View possession eventually ended with a 39-yard field goal as time expired in the second quarter. But the points would have never been registered had an Estancia defender not dropped what appeared to be a routine interception inside his 10-yard line late in the mini-drive.

 Estancia recognized a group of alumni from the Class of 1979 in attendance Friday night. The members of that class experienced only two football victories their senior year, as the Eagles finished 2-7 in the fall of 1978.

 Newport Harbor could have used some momentum heading into Sunset League play.

The next three games are at home against Los Alamitos (5-0), Edison (5-0) and Fountain Valley (5-0). Edison is ranked No. 1 in the CIF Southern Section Pac-5 Division, while Los Alamitos is No. 6 and Fountain Valley is No. 7.

Newport Harbor shared the league crown last year with three of those teams, and Esperanza, all with 3-2 league records.

Brinkley, in his 24th year, might have to wait until the Sailors travel to play Marina on Nov. 6 for his 200th victory.

 For the first time this year, Newport Harbor junior transfer Cedric Whitaker didn’t score a touchdown in a game for Newport Harbor.

Whitaker found the end zone in each of the first four games. He has five rushing touchdowns, one on a kickoff return and one on a fumble return.

 Newport Harbor junior cornerback Parker Norton has intercepted a pass in four straight games.

 Despite the loss, Estancia actually moved up one spot, to No. 9 in the CIF Southern Section Southern Division poll released Monday.

 Corona del Mar (4-1) and Sage Hill (4-1) return to action this week after having byes.

CdM, ranked No. 3 in the CIF Southern Section Southern Division, plays host to defending Southern Division and Pacific Coast League champion Laguna Hills (3-2), Thursday at Newport Harbor High.

Laguna Hills is ranked No. 6.

Sage Hill hits the road to meet Citrus Valley of Redlands Friday at 7 p.m. Citrus Valley is 1-4 with its lone win coming via forfeit.

— From staff reports