Prep football: No time to pause

Barry Faulkner

NEWPORT BEACH - Newport Harbor High football coach Jeff Brinkley

believes winning a CIF Southern Section Division VI championship is

parallel to climbing Mt. Everest.

So, one week after clinching the Sea View League championship and one

week before opening the postseason, Brinkley said his Sailors were firmly

entrenched in base camp as they prepare to host Los Angeles City Section

representative Westchester Friday at 7 p.m. to conclude the regular

season.

“We’ve come a long way, but I think our kids realize we still have a

long way to go to where we want to be,” Brinkley said. “We can feel good

about where we’re at, but now the real climbing starts.”

Westchester, which opened the season with a 37-0 loss to powerful Long

Beach Poly, but has won each of its seven games since, provides more than

a bump in the trail.

“We’re fortunate from that standpoint, because Westchester is a very

good football team,” Brinkley said of the Comets, champions of the

Western League for the fifth time in six seasons. “We’re playing well and

we want to keep our momentum going. We want to finish the

(regular-season) undefeated, which is something that doesn’t happen very

often. We’re also playing to set the school record for most wins in three

straight seasons.”

An unbeaten regular season would be only the fifth in 71 varsity

campaigns for the Sailors (8-0-1), ranked No. 1 in CIF Division VI and

No. 5 in Orange County.

A victory would give them 33 over three seasons, bettering the mark

established by the 1992-94 squads.

A win would also lock up the No. 1 seed in Division VI, which the Tars

converted into section titles in 1994 and 1999, the only other times it

entered the playoffs as the top seed.

Still, Brinkley said he would take an opportunity to rest injured

players and, perhaps, give some others additional seasoning.

“We may be creative with some personnel things,” he said. “We don’t

want to get out of sync, but there’s a possibility (junior backup) Mike

McDonald could get a few extra repetitions at quarterback. We have to do

what is in the best interests our our team, so anyone questionable (with

an injury) will not play.”

Brinkley said limited knowledge of Westchester personnel and schemes

will also force his staff to be extra attentive Friday night.

“This may be one of those games that will probably include some

coaching on the move,” Brinkley said.

Senior quarterback Morgan Craig and junior tailback Dartangan Johnson

have kept the Tars’ offensive moving all season.

Craig has completed 86 of 124 passes (69.4%) for 1,132 yards and 17 touchdowns. Craig has thrown only two interceptions and has also rushed

for 360 yards and three TDs.

Johnson has amassed 1,308 rushing yards and scored nine TDs, operating

behind an offensive line led by UCLA-bound tackle Robert Chai,

Montana-bound center Jeff Marshall and fellow senior returning starter

Bryan Breland.

Craig’s favorite receiver has been senior Adam Kerns, who has 22

catches for 503 yards (nearly 23 per catch) and 10 TDs.

Westchester is averaging nearly 43 points during its winning streak,

including 48-point outputs against Palisades and University High of Los

Angeles, as well as a 52-point windfall against Manual Arts.

Running back Mike Sanford (14 TDs) is one of several offensive

threats, who also include running back Brandon Hampton and quarterback

Brian Johnson.

Newport Harbor has given up 40 points or more only twice in the last

34 seasons and only once in Brinkley’s 191 games at the helm (a 45-6 Sea

View loss to Carson Palmer-led Santa Margarita in 1997).

The Westchester offense will test a Harbor unit that leads Orange

County in scoring defense (allowing just six points per game). Newport

has three shutouts this fall, has allowed more than one touchdown to only

one opponent, and has not give up more than 14 points in a game.

“I told our guys they were going to have to face speed at some point

during the playoffs, so we might as well see some now and make the

adjustment,” Brinkley said.

The Sailors are 36-1-2 the last six seasons against teams not in the

Sea View League.