Prep football: Sailors’ balancing act

Barry Faulkner

NEWPORT BEACH - Just like senior multiple threat Adam Kerns, the

Newport Harbor High football team’s offense showed impressive versatility

in Friday night’s 41-14 nonleague victory at Dana Hills.

Kerns, a 5-foot-11, 160-pound receiver and cornerback, also punts,

kicks off, place-kicks and returns punts and kickoffs for the Sailors

(3-0-1), ranked No. 7 in Orange County and No. 3 in CIF Southern Section

Division VI.

He did all of the above against the Dolphins, posting touchdown

receptions of 17 and 15 yards, kicking field goals of 30 and 26 yards,

and making two conversion kicks en route to scoring 21 points. He

finished with three catches for 55 yards.

In addition, Kerns played solidly on defense, both against the run and

the pass, blocked well on offense, put three kickoffs into the end zone

for touchbacks and averaged 33 yards on five punts, including three

inside the Dana Hills 20-yard line. He also made flawless fair catches of

two Dolphin punts. His kickoffs that did not reach the end zone, were

fielded at the Dana Hills 6, 7, 5, 1 and 10, helping to create the

Dolphins’ average starting point of their own 19-yard line, following

kickoffs.

“(Kerns) played real well again,” Sailors Coach Jeff Brinkley said of

the former freshman team MVP, who sat out as a junior with an injury. “He

gives us that added step of speed at receiver and he’s really kicking

well. It was good that we made a couple field goals, because that gives

us confidence that we can convert in those situations. There is going to

come a time this season when we’ll need a field goal. Adam really has a

good (kicking) stroke right now. It’s like a golf swing and he seems to

be in that groove.”

The Sailors, too, are in a groove with three straight wins and

Brinkley believes Friday’s offensive balance (207 yards on the ground and

147 in the air) will plant a seed with future opposing defensive

coordinators.

“We’ve certainly proved we are by no means one-dimensional with our

attack offensively,” Brinkley said. “Teams are going to have to defend

the whole field against us.”

Brinkley, the Tars’ offensive coordinator, expected Dana Hills to

focus more defensive attention on stopping the run. He was prepared to

let senior quarterback Morgan Craig take the the air to compliment junior

tailback Dartangan Johnson.

“We’d been running it so effectively and (Johnson) had been churning

out yards on the ground (601 his first three games), so I didn’t think

(the Dolphins) would sit there and let us pound it at them,” Brinkley

said. “I figured they’d blitz and pack some extra bodies in the box and

they did. I anticipated Craig having a good game.”

Craig completed 10 of 17 for 115 yards by halftime and finished 11 of

19 for 130 yards, with the aforementioned TD tosses to Kerns. For the

fourth straight game, he did not throw an interception.

Junior backup quarterback Mike McDonald, who had four catches for 59

yards as a receiver, completed both of his pass attempts for another 17

aerial yards.

Johnson held up his end, as well, collecting 128 yards and two

touchdowns on 17 carries, the last of which occurred with more than four

minutes left in the third quarter.

Brinkley was also encouraged by the contributions of senior

receiver-safety Jon Vandersloot, who has been plagued by injuries.

“I told him in pregame it was time for him to break out,” Brinkley

said of Vandersloot, who caught two passes for 21 yards and had an

interception against the Dolphins.

Senior offensive guard Ben Prince, who started the season opener but

missed the next two games with a back injury, also returned to action as

a backup, Brinkley said.

Brinkley anticipates more good news on the injury front as the Sailors

prepare to conclude their preleague campaign against Millikan (1-3)

Thursday at home. He said junior offensive lineman A.J. Slater, out all

season with a back injury, should be cleared to practice this week.