The final countdown

Barry Faulkner

Newport Harbor High football coach Jeff Brinkley wouldn’t say it

Sunday, but other coaches in the division couldn’t help but notice the

Sailors’ fortuitous draw in the CIF Southern Section Division VI

playoffs.

Should the unbeaten and No. 2-seeded Tars handle first-round foe El

Dorado and either Villa Park or Santa Ana in the quarterfinals, their

likely semifinal opponent is La Mirada.

And while the Matadors have played in section title games five of the

last seven seasons (mostly in Division VIII), many believe they are a

lesser obstacle than top-seeded Mayfair, or No. 4-seeded Tustin.

The Sailors (9-0-1) are bidding to become the eighth straight Sea View

League champion to win the section crown. If they make it to the finals,

it could mean a date with former Mesa Coach Myron Miller’s Tustin

Tillers, who have won six straight, following a 1-3 start against a

monstrous preleague schedule.

Mayfair Coach Mike Fitch, whose Monsoons have won 15 straight and have

been top-seeded all year in Division VI, after winning the Division IX

title last fall, could be seen telling La Mirada coaches “We’ll see you

in the finals,” at the conclusion of their regular-season-ending

showdown, telecast on a delayed basis Saturday by Fox.

Not so fast, Mike. If Irvine doesn’t get you in the quarterfinals, I

think Tustin will pull the upset in the semifinals.

Costa Mesa and Corona del Mar could have received less difficult

first-round football matchups, but CdM Coach Dick Freeman, whose 3-7 Sea

Kings shared Pacific Coast League title, wasn’t about to rock the boat

Sunday.

“We’re just lucky to be in the thing,” Freeman said, refusing to whimper

about Friday’s date with fourth-seeded Valencia, which will be played at

Huntington Beach High.

There were no CIF polls for football this week, but inquiring Costa Mesa

minds would be happy to know the Mustangs’ 14-0 win over CdM Friday would

have prompted me to place them fourth in my Division IX Top 10, six spots

better than I voted them last week.

It will take some time for Estancia, denied the Division IX at-large

berth, to overcome the disappointment of its football season ending.

But, Coach Dave Perkins revealed, the program is hard at work to finalize

early plans to open next season in Hawaii. Now that’s something to look

forward to.

The Orange County high school sports community is experiencing a huge

void left by the death of o7 Orange County Registerf7 sportswriter

David Osterman last week (cardiac arrest at age 48).

A couple hundred friends, colleagues and members of the sports community,

all of whom Osterman had touched, gathered Monday at United Methodist

Church in Fountain Valley to celebrate the life of the man who covered

the prep beat for most of his two-plus decades at the paper.

Osterman wrote the first story in which my name appeared as a high school

athlete. We attended the same high school and university and, as I

discovered at the memorial service, grew up in the same neighborhood, 10

years apart.

Dave was an encyclopedic source of county athletic history, but much

more, a friendly, humorous, selfless and dedicated colleague. His company

always seemed to brighten the estimated 20-25 games and/or CIF meetings

we covered together each year.

He’ll will be missed, but never forgotten. I’m a better person and a

better reporter for having known him.