Prep football: Sailors reign

Barry Faulkner

NEWPORT BEACH - Newport Harbor High football players hugged their

parents, kissed their girlfriends and posed for pictures Friday night,

savoring some of the spoils afforded champions.

There was much to relish after a 34-7 triumph over visiting

Woodbridge, to wrap up an unbeaten Sea View League season and the

school’s 10th league crown in 71 varsity seasons.

“I’m very proud of the kids, who are very deserving of this league

championship,” said Newport Coach Jeff Brinkley, whose Tars (8-0-1, 4-0

in league), ranked No. 7 in Orange County and No. 1 in CIF Southern

Section Division VI, went to the air to burn the Warriors (6-2, 2-1),

ranked No. 7 in CIF Division VI.

“This is real special,” said UCLA-bound offensive tackle Robert Chai,

part of a senior class that played understudy to the 1999 Sea View

champions, who went on to finish 13-0-1 and win a CIF Division VI crown.

“It’s a big deal to us, especially the seniors. We were here in ‘99, but

we didn’t contribute very much. “A lot of hard work has gone into this.”

The Sailors, who finish out their regular season by hosting Los

Angeles City Section representative Westchester Friday, made it look easy

against Woodbridge.

The hosts scored touchdowns on their first three possessions, then

drove 73 yards on 13 plays with the second-half kickoff to earn a 27-0

cushion.

The lead grew to 34-0 when senior Adam Kerns sprinted under a perfect

long pass from senior quarterback Morgan Craig for a 79-yard touchdown

pass two plays into the fourth quarter.

From there, all that was left was the shutout, but Woodbridge took 16

plays to cover 53 yards against the Harbor reserves to score with 21

seconds remaining.

Still, there was little that could take away from an impressive

Newport performance, which put a big smile on Brinkley’s face.

“This was a good win for us and it was nice to come back and play well

after last week (a 20-10 come-from-behind win over Laguna Hills). “We

executed well, offensively, with the run and the pass and the defense

played great again,” Brinkley said.

The defense set the tone on the first play of the game, when senior

defensive end Jim Rothwell deflected a short pass into the air, then made

a diving interception to give the Tars possession at the Woodbridge 10.

Three plays later, short-yardage back Matt Casserly drove over left

tackle for a 1-yard touchdown.

Junior tailback Dartangan Johnson capped the Sailors next scoring

drive, a 15-play, 67-yard procession, with an 8-yard urn over left

tackle. The second of four Kerns conversion kicks put the Tars in

command, 14-0 with 1:20 left in the first quarter.

A Mike McDonald interception, the second of four Sailor picks, all in

the first half, began a 76-yard drive that took seven plays and was

capped by a 46-yard Craig-to-Kerns hookup. The key play on the drive was

a defensive holding call during a Harbor punt, which produced an

automatic first down.

The Craig-Kerns connection was clicking all night as the senior duo

combined on six completions for 188 yards and three TDs.

Craig finished 10 of 14 for 215 yards, without an interception. Two of

his incompletions were dropped by Harbor receivers.

“Morgan threw the heck out of it,” Brinkley said.

Woodbridge’s amorphous flex defense helped contain the Harbor running

game, as Johnson finished with a modest 73 yards on 25 carries.

But the Warrior secondary, left alone on the perimeter, had problems

containing Harbor pass catchers, including Brian Gaeta, who had three

catches for 22 yards.

The Warriors’ offense, playing without leading scorer and top rusher

Will Banks (torn ACL), also struggled against Orange County’s stingiest

defense.

Until churning out 56 ground yards and 17 more in the air on its final

drive, the Warriors had just 50 yards rushing and 99 through the air.

Kerns picked off a pass in his own end zone to stop a Woodbridge drive

that had reached the Tars’ 11 and Gaeta wrestled the ball from a Warrior

receiver at his own 27 to turn the visitors away just before halftime.

Defensive linemen Scott Kohan, Bryan Breland, David Marshall and

Genero Mota, linebackers Cory Ray, Tyler Miller and Matt Encinias, as

well as safety Warren Junowich helped the hosts stifle Woodbridge’s

no-huddle attack.

“Ever since the fourth grade, I’ve been watching my brothers play

football,” Rothwell said. “This (league title) is a dream come true. This

is great.”

Woodbridge quarterback Tim Kegel threw for 116 yards, most of which

was earned by J.J. Chavers, who caught nine passes for 109 yards.

It was only the sixth outright crown for Newport, which won Sea View

spoils in 1994 and ’99 under Brinkley, who is in his 16th season at the

school.