First-round knockout a shocker

Jaws dropped, tears welled and stomachs turned around the

Newport-Mesa prep football community Friday night, as the season came

to a sudden, surprising and dramatic end for Corona del Mar, Costa

Mesa and Newport Harbor.

All three teams saw their CIF Southern Section first-round playoff

opponents produce game-winning scores in the final minute. All three

locals held fourth-quarter leads and all but CdM were favored to

advance to this week’s quarterfinals.

The reality, no doubt, continues to sink in for players, who,

instead of practicing Monday, turned in their gear. Most of the

seniors will never buckle a chin strap again.

Coaches spent the weekend wrestling with regret, wondering what

detail they may have altered to affect a different outcome.

While depressing for fans, family and friends, no one can know the

depth of disappointment brought on by season-ending losses for those

involved in the program.

As one who spends a little more than 25% of his annual working

hours covering football, I am constantly reminded how passionate,

myopic and subjective football coaches and players become about their

teams. It is, perhaps, a creation of the preparation-to-performance

ratio of about five days to one that occurs during the season. There

is also the virtual nine-month offseason that includes the rituals of

weightlifting, spring practice, summer passing leagues and fall

two-a-days.

The passion was tangible on the Newport Harbor sideline in the

waning seconds of the Sailors’ first first-round exit since 1993.

Senior lineman Tommy Carroll screamed through his facemask to his

teammates on the field as they tried to cover the 80 or so yards

separating the Sailors from elimination. It wasn’t words of

encouragement, so much as a plea for survival, delivered so

forcefully, it buckled his body at the waist.

Newport quarterback Michael McDonald completed a desperation pass

covering 57 yards to Alex Orth, evoking a loud roar of hope from the

Newport Harbor stands. But the euphoria evaporated quickly as eyes

averted to the scoreboard, where the final seconds had escaped,

taking with them the last remnants of the promise with which every

season begins.

Newport Harbor Coach Jeff Brinkley, as well as Corona del Mar head

man Dick Freeman, talked about the emptiness that followed.

“Our program has evolved to the point where expectations are so

high (five trips to a section title game and two more to the

semifinals in the last 11 years), not be out there practicing on

Thanksgiving is an odd feeling for all of us,” Brinkley said.

Brinkley also said consolation was difficult to convey after

Friday’s loss.

“Everyone, the players included, measure themselves off of past

successes. The bar is set pretty high around here and when (an

extended playoff run) doesn’t happen, people tend to feel

disappointed.”

Freeman said people can’t understand the depth of emotion created

by a season-ending loss.

“Every week, our kids put themselves out there,” Freeman said.

“It’s a little bit like an actor in a play. They sell out every week,

putting forth whatever they can, just competing. As a high school

kid, our guys put in close to a 40-hour week for something that

culminates in a 2 1/2-hour struggle, and the goal is to come out on

top. When you don’t win games, it’s one thing, then to not win a

league championship is another level. Then, to not move on in the

playoffs, that’s a big disappointment.”

Brinkley said winning and losing affects coaches differently than

the kids, though no less intensely.

“The losses certainly eat at you more than you enjoy the wins,”

Brinkley said. “Anymore, we expect to be successful. I answered the

phone at home Sunday saying ‘Football,’ because I’m so used to being

in my office preparing. I now have a lot more free time than I’m used

to this time of year.”

Brinkley said he dreamed about the game Friday and Saturday night

and he awoke Saturday and Sunday thinking about things he may have

done differently.”

“This one will eat at us for a long time,” he said.

*

Costa Mesa’s early exit in Division VII, as well as first-round

losses by fellow Golden West League entries Orange and Santa Ana,

won’t help create favorable playoff pairings for the circuit next

fall.

*

Three Sea View League teams also were defeated in the first round,

the first time that has happened since 1993. The league’s sole

survivor, league champion Foothill, will need to win out for the

league to avoid its first collective losing postseason since 1986.

*

As part of its pairings process, the four-member pairings

committee ranked leagues in all divisions according to perceived

strength.

In Division VI, the Sea View was ranked No. 2, behind the

Miramonte and ahead of, in descending order, the Suburban, Century

and Empire leagues.

In Division IX, the Pacific Coast League, which went 1-3 in the

first round, was ranked No. 3. The Freeway and Valle Vista leagues

were Nos.1 and 2, respectively, with the Orange at No. 4 and the

Garden Grove No. 5.