Title time

Barry Faulkner

NEWPORT BEACH - For all the distinction the Newport Harbor High

football program has enjoyed during Jeff Brinkley’s 14 seasons as coach,

there has been only one league championship.

Despite winning the school’s only CIF Southern Section crown, playing in

three CIF title games, making the playoffs 10 times and winning 110

games, the Brinkley-led Sailors have settled for the Sea View League

shadows every fall except 1994.

But when the Tars host Sea View rival Woodbridge Friday at 7:30 p.m., a

victory would give Newport at least a share of the league crown, the

school’s ninth in 69 varsity seasons.

“There’s a piece of the league championship on the line, it’s homecoming,

so all the old Sailors will be back, and we’re the OCN game of the week,”

Brinkley said. “We’ve had great efforts the last two weeks (league wins

over Irvine and Laguna Hills) and hopefully we can prepare ourselves to

be ready to play hard again.”

The Sailors (6-0-1, 2-0 in league, ranked No. 2 in CIF Division VI and

No. 3 in Orange County), will need to prepare for one of county’s biggest

impact players in Warrior senior Shane Harris.

“He’s a playmaker on both sides of the ball,” Brinkley said of the

All-CIF standout, whose versatility makes Deion Sanders look like a

specialist.

Offensively, Harris plays running back (614 rushing yards and 10

touchdowns on 126 carries), quarterback (he’s thrown for more than 200

yards and three TDs) and receiver.

Defensively, he is deployed from myriad angles as the safety in the flex

scheme and his speed, aggressiveness and instincts usually allow him to

intersect the ball against the run or the pass.

For good measure, he punts, place-kicks and returns kicks for Coach Rick

Gibson’s reigning CIF Division VI champions (5-2, 0-1).

“He’s their go-to guy, kind of a Brett Baker type,” Brinkley said,

comparing Harris to the 1997 Newport-Mesa District Most Valuable Player

who amassed 2,993 all-purpose yards and nine interceptions in 13 games.

“We’ll have to be aware of where he is and what they like to do with him

in his various positions. We’ve got to somehow get him stopped, or at

least contained, on offense, and we have to get them blocked on defense

to win.”

The Woodbridge defense will have some problems of its own in containing

Harbor senior tailback Andre Stewart. The 5-foot-9, 160-pound speedster

set a school single-game record with 310 rushing yards on 38 carries

against Laguna Hills. He has rushed for at least 100 yards in every game

this season and has 1,153 yards and 16 touchdowns on 169 attempts.

Stewart’s combination of quickness and strength has been consistently

sprung by a talented senior offensive line Brinkley continually refers to

as the strength of the team.

Tackles Blair Jones (6-8, 245) and Robert “Big Daddy” Cole (6-5, 325),

guards Nick Haddy (6-3, 257) and Steve Wukawitz (6-2, 200), center Luis

Cruz (5-11, 205) and tight end Nick Langsdorf (6-4, 225), as well as

junior fullback Travis Trimble (6-0, 208), have helped the Tars amass

2,024 yards on the ground.

Junior quarterback Chris Manderino has kept defenses honest, throwing for

529 yards and seven TDs, completing 28 of 65.

Senior receivers Justin Jacobs (16 catches for 315 yards) and Billy

Clayton (eight for 159), have combined for seven aerial TDs.

Defensively, the Sailors have surrendered just 1,256 yards, a healthy

portion of which came against reserves during lopsided preleague

triumphs.

Linebackers Alan Saenz, Mike Tunney and Manderino, ends Garrett Troncale

and Langsdorf, nose guard Andy Kalanz, and corners Jacobs and Stewart,

have led the way.

Woodbridge starts junior Jimmy Pearson at quarterback. He is 47 of 89

passing for 673 yards and two TDs, with three interceptions. His favorite

receiver is senior Dave Delaney, who has 19 catches for 315 yards.

The Warriors should be bolstered by the expected return of senior

offensive tackle Doug Nienhuis (6-6, 258), who has missed parts of the

last four games with an injury.

A Newport win, combined with a Laguna Hills victory over Aliso Niguel

Friday, would assure the Sailors the league’s No. 1 playoff spot,

regardless of what happened in the Nov. 12 Sea View finale against Aliso.

Newport has won 8 of 11 against Woodbridge, but the Warriors have won the

last two; a 17-10 verdict in ’97 and a 10-7 squeaker last year.