Value of a rubber band

Barry Faulkner

NEWPORT BEACH - Newport Harbor High football coach Jeff Brinkley

recognizes the contradiction. But, despite arguing both sides of the same

philosophy, depending on which side of the ball his Sailors happen to be

aligned, his roster is oddly void of disbelievers.

When it comes to defense, Brinkley is an uncompromising proponent of the

bend-but-don’t-break theory. At the high school level, he believes, the

more times you force an opposing offense to execute, the more inevitable

a breakdown (drive-killing penalty or turnover) becomes.

“We want to make teams drive the ball on us,” Brinkley said. “We even

stress this principle in summer passing leagues. If you maintain a solid

scheme and play good team defense, very few teams are going to take the

ball 60 and 70 yards on you. We think if we can make a team use as many

as 12 plays, some type of breakdown will occur.”

The Harbor defense has illustrated this point resoundingly this fall. The

Sailors, who meet Sea View League rival Irvine Friday at 7:30 p.m. at

Orange Coast College for the CIF Southern Section Division VI

championship, have given up an Orange County-low 99 points.

That total includes 13 touchdowns, but a deeper look reveals only seven

touchdowns were scored on the first-team defense. Among those, two Marina

“drives,” both set up by turnovers, covered 1 and 6 yards, respectively.

Throwing the two Marina mini-marches out, there are only five possessions

that ended in paydirt against Harbor’s starting defense. One of those was

a 45-yard drive by Irvine and another a 52-yard procession by Villa Park.

Only Marina (a 75-yard drive), Magnolia (70-plus) and Laguna Hills (67)

have been able to back the Harbor defense into its own end zone from

distance. With just 21 points in 52 quarters from drives which covered,

roughly, more than half the field, Brinkley’s point can’t be disputed.

The same principal, however, breaks down when Brinkley dons his

headphones and calls plays for the second-most prolific scoring offense

in the school’s 69-season history (423 points trailing only the 493

scored by the 1996 Division V runner-up).

Go figure.

In three playoff games alone, the Tars have scored on drives of 97, 83,

71, 68, 66, 65, 62, 56, 53 and 52 yards. Additionally, one drive of 70

yards ended at the opponents’ 1-yard line and another 76-yard march

fizzled at the opponents’ 10.

“We’ve been able to sell our (offensive kids) on the opposite approach,”

Brinkley said. “We try to take what the defense gives us and never

force-feed it. The kids have to believe they can drive the ball on other

teams and our kids have been able to grasp that.”

In another life, Brinkley must have been a politician.

q

Though Brinkley’s 14-season tenure at Harbor has been marked by

monotonous routine, two changes this season stand out.

Brinkley elected to discontinue the traditional helmet decals, which were

awarded to players for individual deeds and worn proudly on their

helmets. Sailor fans will notice flag decals on the helmets of this

year’s players, but those are awarded to all team members after a

victory.

“I wanted to emphasize the team aspect a little more this year,” Brinkley

said.

Another change, which has had more impact on the field, is Brinkley’s

decision to stop practicing in full gear.

Two games into the regular season, players began dressing for daily

workouts in helmets, shoulder pads and either shorts or sweat pants. The

Sailors still scrimmaged, but contact below the waist was forbidden.

“We haven’t been in full gear since the Marina game (a 21-21 tie which

stands as the lone blemish on their 12-0-1 record),” Brinkley said. “We

had hit pretty well during double days, so I knew what these guys could

do.”

Senior two-way starter Justin Jacobs said the latter change has been

appreciated by the players.

“It’s helped keep my legs fresher,” the standout receiver and cornerback

said. “There aren’t any piles to get caught in during practice and it has

made it a little easier to get motivated to practice all year.”

q

The all-Sea View title matchup marks the 12th consecutive year a

representative of the circuit has played for a Southern Section crown,

the fifth time during that span that Sea View rivals have squared off in

the final.

And while it’s certain the league’s streak of seven straight section

titles will be extended to eight, Harbor hopes to make it eight straight

Sea View champions who went on to collect the section championship.

During the aforementioned 12-year period, an astounding 67% of the

division’s finalists have come from the Sea View League, including former

Sea View schools Santa Margarita, El Toro, Tustin and Corona del Mar.