Prep football: Sailors meet Irvine for CIF crown

Barry Faulkner

COSTA MESA - It’s just blue paint on a gray wall, but the

conspicuous tribute that greets Newport Harbor High football players and

coaches every day they enter their campus headquarters, may as well be

etched in stone.

“CIF champions 1994,” reads the surface above the doorway to the building

containing the locker room, coaches’ offices and weight facility. It’s a

tangible tie to the only Southern Section title in the program’s previous

68 seasons.

The Sailors (12-0-1) will attempt to erase that exclusivity tonight, when

they battle Sea View League rival Irvine (10-2-1) in the CIF Division VI

title showdown at 7:30 at Orange Coast College.

“It’s going to be a hell of a game,” 14-year Newport Harbor Coach Jeff

Brinkley said of the teams’ second meeting this season. The host Sailors

won the Oct. 15 league opener, 12-10, when junior end Garrett Troncale

blocked a 35-yard field-goal attempt with 4:51 remaining.

“Our kids know what they’re in for,” 19-year Irvine Coach Terry Henigan

said.

A defensive struggle is expected as both teams feature noteworthy units

with vastly different approaches.

Newport, which has yielded an Orange County-low 99 points, including four

shutouts in its last six games, emphasizes containment. The Tars employ a

four-three alignment with four defensive backs, which aims to put a body

in every running gap and always keep receivers in front of them.

Irvine runs Buddy Ryan’s 46 scheme, which helped the Chicago Bears

destroy NFL competition in a 1985 championship campaign and triggered the

continuing shift to attacking defenses at all levels.

The Vaqueros, who have held teams to 12.8 points per game, stack eight

players in the box to stuff the run and pressure the quarterback.

“Our (three defensive backs) are on an island almost every single play,”

Henigan said.

The contrast carries over to both teams’ offenses.

Newport, the Sea View champion bidding to join the 14-0 team of 1994 as

the only unbeaten squads in school history, has ridden a smashmouth

running game to its fourth CIF title game in eight years. Of Newport’s

4,635 offensive yards, 79% have come on the ground.

Senior tailback Andre Stewart, surprisingly powerful at just 5-foot-9,

160 pounds, has amassed a school single-season record 2,245 rushing yards

and scored 25 touchdowns. He has gained at least 100 yards in all but one

game this fall, including a 112-yard performance against Irvine.

“He runs like he’s 195 pounds,” said Irvine middle linebacker Mike

Patterson, who has a team-leading 132 tackles and 8 1/2 sacks.

“(Stewart) might be the best back we’ve faced and we’ve faced some good

ones,” Henigan said.

Blair Jones, a blue-chip 6-8, 262-pound left tackle, anchors Newport’s

offensive front, which also includes guards Steve Wukawitz and Nick

Haddy, center Luis Cruz and sophomore tackle Bryan Breland. Breland (6-3,

248) starts in place of senior Robert Cole (6-5, 325), who broke his leg

in a 49-0 semifinal win over Kennedy.

Breland has seen mop-up duty all season and played the entire game

against Magnolia (a 55-13 win Oct. 7), when Jones sat out with the flu.

“We used to have O-lines like Newport has,” said Henigan, whose team

faces a hefty size disadvantage on both sides of the ball.

The Sailors have passed sparingly, particularly in the postseason. Junior

quarterback Chris Manderino has just 10 of his 51 completions in the

playoffs. He has thrown for 867 yards and 12 touchdowns and has also

rushed for 234 yards and six TDs.

Seniors Justin Jacobs (21 catches for 384 yards) and Billy Clayton (18

for 294) are the Tars’ leading receivers. Both have scored seven TDs.

“Irvine puts eight guys up there and they come after you,” Brinkley said.

“It’s nice to think we could pound it up in there, but we’re not going to

beat our heads against a wall. We’ll do what’s necessary. Hopefully we

can run the ball and throw the ball.”

Harbor is averaging 32.6 points and its 423 points is the second-best

total in school history.

Irvine, averaging 21.2 points, has shown more offensive balance.

Senior Keith Short, a Calvary Chapel transfer who was an All-CIF Division

XI defensive back last season, headlines the backfield rotation. He has

1,124 rushing yards and has scored 13 touchdowns, but has just 139 yards

on 36 playoff carries. He has committed to UCLA as a defensive back and

his seven interceptions lead the team.

“We use whoever’s hot,” Henigan said of his backs, who also include

senior Martin Rovira (451 rushing yards), sophomore Godfrey Young (397)

and junior Peter Abe (281).

Irvine senior quarterback Mike Ricci has completed 120 of 194 passes

(62%) for 1,544 yards and 14 touchdowns.

Ricci’s favorite receiver is senior James Whitted, who has 23 of his 54

receptions in the playoffs. Whitted missed the first Newport meeting with

a knee injury. His three-game regular-season absence coincided with

losses to Division I finalist Mater Dei, as well as a 21-21 tie against Division X semifinalist South Torrance. Whitted has 658 receiving yards

and eight touchdowns.

“They’re going to try to keep it balanced and move the chains,” Brinkley

said. “And, at some point, they usually try to throw the deep ball.”

Harbor’s secondary, which has 23 interceptions to help fuel a plus-15

turnover ratio, has been tested in the postseason.

Villa Park quarterback John Henry Jackson completed 12 of 16 for 195 yards in a 35-16 quarterfinal loss and Kennedy signal caller Geoff

Etherson threw for 156 yards, completing 13 of 33.

“We haven’t played against many teams who threw the ball, so I think the

last few weeks has helped us,” said Clayton, a three-year starter at

safety. Clayton shares the interception lead with fellow safety Dayne

Pfaff (five), while Jacobs, a cornerback, has four.

Ricci threw just six times in the first Harbor game, completing four for

84 yards, including a 51-yard catch-and-run to Eric Patton, which set up

the ill-fated field goal. The Vaqueros had 122 rushing yards that night.

Defensive stalwarts for Harbor include the linebacking trio of senior

Mike Tunney and juniors Alan Saenz and Manderino. They have 195 combined

tackles, split almost equally.

Troncale has 10 sacks, while backup end Brad Rothwell has nine and senior

nose guard Andy Kalanz seven.

In addition to Patterson and Short, Irvine’s defense is keyed by junior

end Brian Porteous (57 tackles and 7 1/2 sacks), outside linebackers Zach

Taylor (66 tackles and three sacks) and Jeff Patty (56 tackles and four

sacks), as well as safety Patton (61 tackles and two interceptions).

Irvine’s 13 opponents have averaged eight wins this season, while Harbor

foes have averaged just five.

Irvine is 3-0 in CIF championship games, winning all three consecutively

(1991-93), all at OCC. Included in that run was a 30-8 win over Newport

for the Division IV crown in 1992.

Harbor, which went 50 years without playing in a title game after a 39-6

loss to Bonita in 1942, defeated Servite, 20-15, for the aforementioned

Division V championship. That was the Tars’ last game at OCC.

Santa Margarita beat the Sailors, 38-0, in the Division V final at Cal

State Fullerton in ’96.

Irvine and Harbor have split their 14 meetings, half of which have been

decided by 11 points or less.

In the event of a tie, there will be no overtime. Both teams will share

the championship.