Prep football: Bad tie-dings

Barry Faulkner

NEWPORT BEACH - The Newport Harbor High football team has waited a

year to settle what 48 minutes could not last season, when the Sailors

played to a 21-21 deadlock with Marina.

Tonight, Coach Jeff Brinkley’s Tars (1-0) get the chance to avenge the

only blemish on a 13-0-1 CIF Southern Section Division VI championship

season, when the Vikings (1-0) visit for a 7 o’clock nonleague battle of

former Sunset League rivals.

And, Brinkley believes, he has as much to prove as anyone.

“I didn’t do a very good job of getting us ready to play that night,”

Brinkley recalled of the Week 2 stalemate, which is the closest the

Sailors have come to losing in their last 30 games against teams outside

the Sea View League. “That one was prettyugly, so we look forward to

going out and doing a better job this time around.”

It’s the second time around this season for both teams, after both

received strong defensive performances in season-opening victories last

week.

Newport, ranked No. 4 in CIF Division VI and No. 7 in Orange County,

held Orange Lutheran to 172 offensive yards in a 14-7 home triumph.

Marina, under first-year coach Mike Dodd, was even stingier in its

12-3 win over Paramount, allowing the Pirates a paltry 83 yards and four

first downs.

The Sailors will attempt to improve a modest rushing attack, which

produced just 78 yards in its debut. It was the first time in 15 games

the Tars did not reach triple figures on the ground.

Senior tailback Ryan Ortega collected 60 yards on 16 carries in his

first varsity start, operating behind a similarly inexperienced offensive

line.

That offensive front will, once again, be without junior guard Bryan

Breland, who did not play in the opener and will now miss at least the

next three games after undergoing hand surgery.

Dennis Thornton, who scored a touchdown last week, could help out in

the backfield, where senior Chris Manderino runs the show at quarterback.

Manderino, who was elevated to the starting role after last year’s

Marina game, has led the Sailors to 13 straight wins since. Another

triumph tonight would bring Tars within two games of matching the

school-record winning streak established in 1994-95.

Manderino completed 7 of 15 for 102 yards, while his 12 rushing

attempts also produced a 1-yard TD. Manderino’s primary objective,

however, will be to make good decisions, which helped lead to a

turnover-free opener.

Manderino is also a defensive force at outside linebacker, where his

penchant for punishing hits drew oohs and ahs from the Harbor faithful

last week.

Also keying the Harbor defense are returning starters Alan “No

Trespassing” Saenz, a middle linebacker, and senior end Garrett Troncale.

Troncale was in on two sacks against Orange Lutheran, after leading the

team with 12 as a junior.

Saenz, a 6-foot-2, 260-pound senior, showed in the opener why he is

receiving recruiting interest from Pac-10 programs.

Marina has shifted from the veer to the fly, a run-oriented

misdirection offense triggered by the flanker sprinting toward the

quarterback before the snap.

Senior Beau Brown returns at quarterback for the Vikings, after

haunting the Sailors last season. His 51 rushing yards against the Tars

included two TDs. He has not completed a pass this season and has one

interception in three attempts.

Running backs Adam Hayward (56 yards) and Bernard Mitchell (50) each

had 10 carries in the opener, while senior receiver Aaron Williams adds

to what Dodd considers excellent team speed.

Defensively, the Vikings are led by returning linebackers Inoke Tukia

(6-2, 225) and Layton Bowles (6-1, 195).

“(The Vikings) are playing really well defensively and their two

linebackers did a real good job against us last year,” Brinkley said. “We

know we have our work cut out for us.”

Another factor may be the kicking game. Marina’s Sean Sanchez kicked a

36-yard field goal last week, while Harbor senior newcomer Duke Burchell

averaged more than 38 yards on six punts and booted a kickoff beyond the

end line.

Newport, which has not lost in Week 2 since Brinkley took the helm in

1986, leads the series, 15-3-3.