Sailors seize control

Barry Faulkner

In a game of spontaneous split-second changes that either buoyed

and sank the spirit of both teams, it was a shift of glacial

proportions that ultimately decided the nonleague football game

Friday night between Marina High and host Newport Harbor High.

Leading, 16-14, after senior Rhett Hartsfield blocked a potential

go-ahead 35-yard field-goal try with 10:20 left in the game, the

Sailors settled in for a 15-play drive that covered 91 yards and

nearly seven minutes to score an insurance touchdown and claim a

23-14 triumph before 3,700.

Newport sophomore Spencer Link, who catalytically transformed a

14-10 deficit into a two-point lead by snaking through the Vikings

punt return team for a 57-yard touchdown return five plays after

Brian Campos closed the gap with a 25-yard field goal, made a diving

catch of Michael McDonald’s precisely thrown out pass in the end zone

to cap the aforementioned marathon march and help the Tars (1-1)

avoid their first 0-2 start since 1982.

Newport’s defense, which, like the Sailor offense displayed

patience and determination all night, stopped Marina’s last-ditch

drive near midfield and the hosts ran out the clock on their 15th

triumph in their last 17 Week 2 contests.

“There was a lot of stuff that happened in that game, a lot of

momentum changes,” said Newport Coach Jeff Brinkley, whose team was

on the short end of the most startlingly sudden reversal of fortune

on the final play before halftime.

After taking seven plays to move from its own 31 to the Newport 44, Marina quarterback Matt Brennan threw well beyond a streaking

receiver into the hands of Harbor cornerback Ben Soza. Soza,

retreating, hauled in the interception at his own 10 and drifted back

to his own 5, before Marina receiver Keith Heyward grabbed him by the

arms and popped the ball loose. Heyward picked up the bounding fumble

at the 4 and carried Soza into the end zone with no time left. Yuto

Someya’s conversion kick made it 14-7 Vikings, but Harbor somehow

managed to come out energized for the third quarter.

“I told our guys at halftime to make sure at the end of the third

quarter, we were either even or ahead, because I believed we could

take it in the fourth quarter,” Brinkley said.

Two plays after Harbor’s second-half kickoff sailed out of bounds,

setting Marina (1-1) up at its own 35, senior defensive end Shahan

Mouradyan closed quickly on the dive option exchange and popped the

ball loose, into the awaiting arms of fellow end Mac Posey at the

Marina 41.

The Sailors, taking advantage of the short passes Marina defensive

backs appeared willing to surrender all night, marched to the 8,

before Campos split the uprights for three points with 8:08 left in

the third.

A pair of sacks, the first by junior noseguard Austin Nieto for a

7-yard loss and the second by junior outside linebacker Matt Encinias

with cleanup help from Nieto for a 4-yard loss, helped force a Marina

punt on the ensuing possession.

Link, whose separated shoulder prevented him from returning punts

in last week’s opener, collected the ball between the right sideline

and the hash marks, sped toward the border, past the first wave of

pursuit, then cut back across the field to give Harbor the lead for

good. with 5:03 left in the third.

“That play changed the game,” McDonald said of Link’s TD.