Prep football: Newport Harbor-Marina game moved to Saturday

Barry Faulkner

WESTMINSTER - While the Marina High offensive line gorged on steak,

courtesy of the Vikings’ starting backfield after a 40-26 season-opening

win over Paramount, Newport Harbor’s football team has gnawed all week on

disappointment.

And the Tars are going to have to wait even longer, because tonight’s

scheduled game with Marina at Westminster High has been moved to Saturday

by virtue of the Huntington Beach School District’s decision not to play

tonight in lieu of Tuesday’s terrorist attacks in New York City and

Washington, D.C.

Still stuck in the collective craw of the Sailors, who battle Marina

Saturday at 7 o’clock, is a 7-7 Week 1 tie against Orange Lutheran.

Adding to the appetite of Coach Jeff Brinkley’s Tars, ranked No. 8 in

Orange County and No. 3 in CIF Southern Section Division VI, are recent

struggles against Marina.

Last year, the Vikings ended Harbor’s 30-game unbeaten streak against

teams not in the Sea View League with a 26-18 triumph. Marina’s 21-21 tie

with Newport in 1999 was the only other blemish during the aforementioned

streak.

“We haven’t played very well the last two years (against Marina),”

Brinkley said. “They’ve been bizarre games. Hopefully, we’ll get better

this time around.”

The Sailors will need to improve without a pair of senior starters, as

receiver-defensive backs Brian Gaeta (ankle) and Jon Vandersloot (shin)

are expected to be out of the lineup.

Gaeta was the only returning starter on defense from last year’s CIF

Division VI runner-up, so experience will, once again, be an issue on

that side of the ball.

The Harbor defense’s experience against Orange Lutheran, which ran

some veer option last week, should come in handy against Marina, which

mixes its veer with the fly offense under second-year coach Mike Dodd.

“It’s still assignment football,” Brinkley said of facing the Vikings’

option attack. “Having seen some option already will be good for us, but

we’ll have to come up with a few change-ups, since Marina has seen how we

defend it.”

Senior Adam Kerns, who made some big plays last week, will help fill

the void in the secondary and at receiver. Brinkley expects either junior

Ben Soza or sophomore Warren Junowich to step up at safety.

Newport’s defense surrendered 341 yards and 21 first downs to the

Lancers, ranked ninth in the county, and figures to be challenged by a

productive Marina unit.

Senior outside linebacker Tyler Miller provided several defensive

highlights for Harbor last week. He had one of two Newport sacks,

recovered a fumble and made a diving interception. Senior end Bryan

Breland had the other sack and end David Marshall also recovered a fumble

against Orange Lutheran.

Viking quarterback Tom Ansel, as well as fellow seniors Adam Hayward

and Thurill Engelman, combined for nearly 200 rushing yards and scored

six rushing touchdowns against Paramount.

Ansel, a first-year starter, produced 54 yards and three TDs on five

carries and also completed 4 of 8 passes for 94 yards, with one

interception.

Hayward, a Colorado State-bound linebacker, rushed for 87 yards on six

carries, including a 65-yard TD run, while Engelman, who also starts at

cornerback, collected 67 yards and two TDs on 16 attempts.

The three Viking ball carriers promised to supply steaks for their

lineman, if the team surpassed 28 points in the opener.

The Sailors showed promise on offense last week, as junior tailback

Dartangan Johnson carried 32 times for 187 yards and a TD behind an

offensive line that includes senior All-CIF returner Robert Chai.

Senior quarterback Morgan Craig is another returning starter for the

Sailors. He completed 8 of 17 for 59 yards in the opener, his lowest

yardage output in nine games. Craig completed only two passes to wide

receivers last week, though Johnson (three) and fullback Joe Foley

combined for five receptions.

Brinkley said the Sailors treated last week’s tie as a loss.

“I think we’re hungry to go out and improve,” Brinkley said.

It was 1982 the last time Newport played its first two games of the

season without recording a win.

Newport leads the series between former Sunset League rivals, 15-4-3.