Prep football: No satisfaction

Barry Faulkner

NEWPORT BEACH - A tie is something the Newport Harbor High football

players wear to school on game day. Experiencing one on the field is,

well, downright unfashionable.

“The kids were disappointed,” Sailors Coach Jeff Brinkley said of his

players’ reaction to Thursday’s 7-7 season-opening road deadlock with

highly regarded Orange Lutheran. “It was silence all the way home on the

bus and silence in the locker room. Even the next day, there wasn’t a lot

of satisfaction.”

The Sailors’ failure to produce a 13th straight victory in a season

debut, however, may not have been the most disappointing development.

That would clearly be an ankle injury to senior receiver-defensive

back Brian Gaeta, whom Brinkley estimates will be out another four weeks.

“He rolled an ankle pretty severely while back peddling in the

secondary,” Brinkley said. “When he first came off, I thought it was his

knee (he had been recovering slowly from offseason surgery to relieve

tendinitis in both knees). But this is something else. I really feel for

Brian, because he has worked so hard. He’s just had a run of bad luck.

Our goal right now is to get him back for the start of (Sea View League)

play (Oct. 12 against Aliso Niguel).”

Brinkley is also planning to tackle Thursday’s nonleague opponent,

Marina, without another senior skill-position standout, as Jon

Vandersloot appears sidelined by a recurring injury to his left lower

leg.

“It’s something in the shin that is still bothering him, ever since he

hurt it in our scrimmage (Aug. 31 against Mission Viejo),” Brinkley said.

“He rested it last week and felt like he was ready to play. But, when he

got out there, it started bothering him again.”

There was good news to report, particularly with the Sailors rushing

attack.

Junior tailback Dartangan Johnson gained 187 yards on 28 carries,

including the Tars’ lone touchdown, in his first varsity start.

‘We got everything out of (Johnson) we hoped for,” Brinkley said. “I

thought we ran the ball effectively, but it just seemed like we never got

fully in sync and put our complete package together. We’d stall ourselves

one way or another, with a fumble or a penalty or a sack.”

The fumbles, all three of which were recovered by Orange Lutheran, are

particularly out of character for a Harbor squad.

Brinkley, however said each fumble was a “freaky thing,” so he is

confident it will not become a recurring problem.

Brinkley was generally pleased with the play of his defense, which,

without Gaeta, enters the Marina game with no returning starters from

last year’s CIF Southern Section Division VI runner-up.

He singled out senior outside linebacker Tyler Miller (a diving

interception, a fumble recovery and a sack), as well as senior cornerback

Adam Kerns.

Kerns made back-to-back plays to help keep the Lancers from scoring on

their last-minute drive that reached the Tars’ 1-yard line as time

expired.

Brinkley was also gratified by the intensity his team, ranked No. 3 in

CIF Division VI, brought to its first contest.

“I thought we played hard and I like that,” Brinkley said.