Sailors sputter in debut

Barry Faulkner

With just 10 regular-season games, the work/reward ratio in high

school football is more heavily skewed toward work than in any other

prep sport.

So, after months of preparation, including offseason

weightlifting, spring practice, summer workouts, and up to three

practices a day before school starts, the immediacy of gratification

provided by the season’s first victory is not something coaches like

to put off.

But, for the first time in 14 seasons, Newport Harbor Coach Jeff

Brinkley and his players are dealing with the disappointment that

comes with losing a season debut, after host Trabuco Hills earned a

16-8 nonleague triumph Thursday.

“Everybody is disappointed, obviously,” Brinkley said of the mood

following the setback. “We all work long and hard in the offseason,

then to go out and not play well is disappointing for all of us.”

Brinkley pointed to several areas of concern, including one finger

of blame directly at himself.

“I didn’t think we played with very much enthusiasm, which is

something I’m very disappointed about, because that’s my

responsibility,” Brinkley said. “We weren’t that highly motivated for

some reason, which is something I need to address.”

Brinkley was also quick to credit the Mustangs, who won their

opener for the third straight year, the fourth time in the last five

seasons.

“We knew they had a good football team and they did what they had

to do,” Brinkley said. “They played with more emotion than we did.”

Brinkley lamented his team’s inability to sustain much

offensively, and also it’s lack of effectiveness in stopping Dana

Hills, particularly on third and fourth down.

“We’ve got to be able to run the ball and stop the run,” he said.

“There were times when we stopped their running game to a good

degree, but then we let them convert on third down. Their percentage

of converting third down was extremely high, which meant we had

trouble getting our offense on the field. And, since we didn’t have

the ball that much (only 16:22 time of possession to Trabuco’s

31:38), we never got into much of a rhythm running the ball.”

Trabuco converted 11 of its first 14 third-or fourth-down

situations, which included one Newport stop that resulted in a

Mustang field goal. Trabuco converted 11 of 17 similar situations for

the game.

Meanwhile, Newport averaged just 4.6 plays on its nine

possessions, the longest of which lasted seven plays before a punt.

Harbor converted only three of its 11 third-down situations, two of

which produced interceptions.

Newport’s offensive produced just 64 rushing yards. Newport’s

rushing leader was senior Rhett Hartsfield, who posted 27 yards on

four third-quarter carries, all of which occurred while senior

tailback Dartangan Johnson was recovering from leg cramps. The 27

yards marked the least by a single-game Sailor leader in 108 games,

dating back to late in the 1993 campaign.

There was some productivity through the air, as senior Michael

McDonald finished with 172 passing yards. The majority of that,

however, came on two plays, the first a 60-yard catch-and-run by

sophomore receiver Spencer Link and the second a 41-yard hookup with

senior wideout Mike Toole

That McDonald-to-Toole connection put the Sailors, trailing at the

time, 16-8, at the Trabuco 18-yard line with just more than four

minutes left. A run and three passes into the end zone, however,

produced just 4 yards, allowing Trabuco to take over on downs.

Newport’s defense forced Trabuco to go three-and-out for the

second straight time and the Tars took over after a punt on their own

48 with 1:24 left.

“As bad as we played, we had the opportunity to at least tie the

game,” Brinkley said.

After a 22-yard McDonald-to-Link completion, however, Newport

failed to convert four successive passes into the end zone and

Trabuco ran out the final 46 seconds to preserve its win.

A handful of Sailors left the game with leg craps and Brinkley

said he has taken steps to avoid future occurrences.

“I had the trainer give the kids a talk Friday about hydration,”

Brinkley said. “(Replacing fluids) is something that has to take

place throughout the week. Hopefully, our kids can work on that so it

won’t be a problem in the future.”

Brinkley said a long, hot bus ride to Mission Viejo through

rush-hour traffic may have contributed to his players’ hydration

problems.

“It would have been nice if we had an air-conditioned bus like the

one the cheerleaders rode on,” Brinkley said. “Our guys were worked

into a lather (sweat), before they even did anything on the field.”

In addition to singling out the efforts of Link and junior

noseguard Austin Nieto, Brinkley had praise for Trabuco senior

quarterback Brian White, a 6-foot-5, 225-pounder who completed 14 of

25 for 163 yards and one TD and also rushed for 24 yards, including

some key scrambles for first-down yardage.

“He scrambled a few times on third down and hit a couple (passes)

on third down,” Brinkley said. “He’s definitely a big-time college

prospect. I heard Colorado, Ohio State and Washington are all

recruiting him pretty heavily.”