High School Football: Sailors finish third in Sunset

LONG BEACH — Jeff Brinkley has been Newport Harbor High’s football coach since 1986. During his time with the Sailors, they have never missed the CIF Southern Section playoffs in consecutive years.

There is a chance the Sailors could miss the postseason for the second straight season.

Newport Harbor lost the Sunset League battle for second place on Thursday, falling to host Los Alamitos, 41-28, at Veterans Stadium.

While Los Alamitos is playoff bound in Division 3, securing second in league at 4-1, the Sailors closed out league in third at 3-2. Brinkley said it is up in the air whether Newport Harbor earns a berth into the Division 6 playoffs.

With the new playoff system, the third-place team from a league is not guaranteed a playoff entry as in years past. Newport Harbor will have to wait and see if it makes it on Sunday, when the section releases the playoff pairings.

For the Sailors, Brinkley said a lot is riding on Friday’s results involving teams vying for the 16 spots in the Division 6 bracket.

“The problem is that there are 20 leagues in our division,” Brinkley said. “Obviously our schedule has been strong. I thought we played tough tonight. [The loss] won’t hurt our resume.”

Brinkley said there might be one playoff spot open, and he is hoping it goes to Newport Harbor, which dropped to 5-5 overall. Four of the Sailors’ losses have come against league champions, Corona del Mar (Pacific Coast), Hacienda Heights Los Altos (Hacienda), Manhattan Beach Mira Costa (Bay) and Edison (Sunset).

The Sailors could have punched their way into the playoffs with a win in their regular-season finale.

Newport Harbor and Los Alamitos entered the night tied for second place in league, and then Los Alamitos pulled away on the field and in the standings, thanks to Keanu Norman’s four first-half touchdowns. Norman burned the Sailors, rushing for three touchdowns and returning a kickoff 98 yards for a touchdown.

By halftime, Norman produced 129 rushing yards and 188 return yards. More importantly, Norman’s 16-yard touchdown run with 19 seconds left in the first half helped the Griffins take a 35-21 lead.

During a 2-minute 25-second stretch late in the first half, the Griffins found the end zone twice. What was a 21-21 game quickly swayed in Los Alamitos’ favor.

Norman finished with 29 carries for 206 yards. For a while, it was a back-and-forth game between Norman and Newport Harbor senior Cole Kinder. Norman would score, and then Kinder would respond for the Sailors with a touchdown.

The scenario played out three times in the first half. The first time with Norman rushing for a seven-yard touchdown midway through the first quarter, and then Kinder found the end zone on a three-yard run with 55 seconds left in the quarter. Thirteen seconds later, Norman returned the ensuing kickoff 98 yards for a touchdown to help make it Los Alamitos 14-7.

Midway through the second quarter, it was Kinder rushing for his second three-yard touchdown to tie the score.

On the ensuing kickoff, Newport Harbor decided to kick the ball Norman’s way again. The sophomore returned it 36 yards, setting up the Griffins on the Sailors’ 45-yard line.

Norman capped a 10-play scoring drive with a four-yard touchdown run to put Los Alamitos ahead, 21-14. Just as Norman took a kickoff all the way for a touchdown, Kinder did as well.

Kinder broke free and ran down the sideline to complete the 82-yard touchdown return. Kinder allowed the Sailors to catch Los Alamitos at 21-21 with 2:52 to go in the first half.

That would be the last time the Sailors kept up with the Griffins, who improved to 7-3 overall in Coach Ray Fenton’s first season in charge.

Kinder had 28 carries for 159 yards and two touchdowns, giving him 1,886 yards and 26 touchdowns on the year. If Newport Harbor does not qualify for the playoffs, Kinder might have played his final game as a Sailor.

For his career, Kinder is eight yards short of the 4,000-yard mark on the ground. He has produced 43 touchdowns, 39 on runs, three on kickoff returns and one receiving. The Newport Harbor career touchdown record is 45, which Steve Brazas holds.

“I feel like we should be in the playoffs,” Brinkley said. “These guys have done everything they’ve needed to do to make the playoffs.”

Sunset League

Los Alamitos 41, Newport Harbor 28

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Newport Harbor 7 – 14 – 0 – 7 — 28

Los Alamitos 14 – 21 – 6 – 0 — 41

FIRST QUARTER

LA – Norman 7 run (Ruiz kick), 6:16.

NH – Kinder 3 run (Schroeder kick), :55.

LA – Norman 98 kickoff return (Ruiz kick), :42.

SECOND QUARTER

NH – Kinder 3 run (Schroeder kick), 6:17.

LA – Norman 4 run (Ruiz kick), 3:07.

NH – Kinder 82 kickoff return (Schroeder kick), 2:52.

LA – Ruiz 35 pass from Smith (Ruiz kick), 2:44.

LA – Norman 16 run (Ruiz kick), :19.

THIRD QUARTER

LA – Platt 44 pass from Smith (run failed), 5:17.

FOURTH QUARTER

NH – Bailey 1 run (Schroeder kick), 8:14.

INDIVIDUAL RUSHING

NH – Kinder, 28-159, 2 TDs.

LA – Norman, 29-206, 3 TDs.

INDIVIDUAL PASSING

NH – Barela, 8-11-0, 48.

LA – Smith, 8-13-1, 126, 2 TDs.

INDIVIDUAL RECEIVING

NH – Chalmers, 3-35.

LA – Ruiz, 5-71, 1 TD.