Jr. Battle of the Bay Newport holds off CdM, 6-0

Bryce Alderton

Up until the final 30 seconds of the Back Bay duel pitting

freshmen from Corona del Mar High against host Newport Harbor, the

outcome was anyone’s guess leaving it up to the players to leave it

all on the field.

Trailing, 6-0, with 3:40, the Sea Kings marched 70 yards in nine

plays, and was at the Newport 14 when lightning struck as defensive

back Ricky Sepulveda reached over a Sea King receiver and grabbed the

ball, batted by linebacker James Coder, for his second interception

of the game to help seal the win for the Sailors (2-1) who have now

won the last three meetings between the two schools.

“It feels great to win over those guys,” Sepulveda said. “I know

Matt Raiger, but I didn’t know I would be guarding him. He beat me

once and I wasn’t going to let him beat me again.”

Raiger caught a 29-yard pass from left-handed quarterback Shaun

Mohler to get the Sea Kings (2-1) in Newport Harbor territory at the

41 on their final drive, and caught a pass for 3 yards to get CdM to

the 14 before Sepulveda intercepted one play later.

“It was a great game,” said CdM Coach Joe Almquist. “When it comes

down to the last play of the game that’s what you want. There were

hard hits and big plays, but field position cost us the game.”

Newport took advantage of an 18-yard punt and started the fourth

quarter on the CdM 25.

Newport needed only four plays to score, as Ryan Rippon had gains

of 4, 18 and 5 yards. Rippon rumbled the lasat 5 yards with a

defender wrapped around him into the end zone to give Newport the 6-0

lead with 8:02 left in the fourth quarter.

The Sailors began four of their seven drives in Sea Kings’

territory, with their worst field position coming after Sepulveda’s

second interception at the Newport 2 with 30 seconds left. Their

second-worst field position came when they started at their own 41,

which happened twice.

“The difference today was we were able to punt and get field

position,” said Newport Coach Joe Urban Sr., now in his eighth year

coaching the freshmen at Newport. “We would have struggled to take

the ball 80 yards against that team. It’s a thrill to play (CdM) but

as I told the kids it’s not the Super Bowl. We still have seven games

to play. Every game is a big game.”

Defensive back Tom Jackson recovered his first of two fumbles

after Delano McKenzie jarred the ball loose from the CdM tailback on

fourth-and-four at the Sailor 41 on the first play of the second

quarter. Jackson also recovered a fumble on CdM’s third play from

scrimmage.

The Sailors’ defense came up with the big plays when they had to,

but Corona’s defense didn’t shy from putting the hurt on a number of

Sailor running plays.

Linebacker Matthew Burgner led CdM with four tackles, including a

14-yard sack. Mohler had three tackles as Loyd, John Fairbanks, David

Yi and Chase Harmon stuffed Newport ball carriers.

CdM held the Sailors to just four first downs compared to their 10

while limiting Newport to 68 yards on 24 rushes compared to their 125

yards on 30 rushes. Brett Crowley led the Sea Kings with 52 rushing

yards on 13 carries, including a 31-yard burst up the sideline in the

second quarter.

But the Sailors held strong when they had to, turning away the Sea

Kings all three times they went for it on fourth down as Jackson

recovered a fumble on a rushing attempt, and made the key hit to stop

Burgner on fourth-and-two at the Sailor 32 in the second quarter.

Linebacker Billy Brown, Coder, Ismael Portillo and McKenzie

constantly swarmed CdM ball carriers with Jackson leading Newport

with five tackles.

Newport stuck with the running game for the exception of four

passes by quarterback Michael Cantwell, who completed two for 12

yards. Rippon led all Newport rushers with 40 yards on eight carries

followed closely by McKenzie’s 32 yards on nine touches and Pierce

Meehan’s 5 yards on three carries.

For CdM, Matthew Loyd gained 30 yards in nine carries while Mohler

added a 25-yard scamper. Mohler led the team in passing, going 7 of

12 for 69 yards as starting quarterback Matthew Hauser went 1 for 4

for 14 yards. Raiger led all CdM receivers with 32 yards on two

catches followed by Harmon’s four catches for 25 yards.

Newport is 4-2 against CdM the last six years, but Urban had

nothing but praise for CdM’s effort.

“They’re a good club and Joe (Almquist) does a great job with

them,” Urban said. “(Mohler) and (Crowley) are just outstanding

players. We were fortunate to be on the good side of turnovers today

because we haven’t been on the good side up until now.”