Tars, Link answer CdM

Barry Faulkner

The Corona del Mar High football team did its best to deliver an

early knockout in Friday night’s 42nd edition of the Battle of the

Bay against Newport Harbor, before 7,000 at Orange Coast College.

But the Sailors countered with a series of jabs, or, perhaps more

correctly, jab steps, jukes and jaunts, primarily from junior

receiver Spencer Link, to key a 29-14 come-from-behind victory.

Link, who in 17 varsity games has made a habit out of turning the

most seemingly innocent short completion into a highlight, did so

twice against the Sea Kings, to help Newport improve to 3-0 and

defeat its arch rival for the fifth straight season.

“He’s a playmaker,” Sailors Coach Jeff Brinkley said of the

5-foot-9, 171-pound dervish, who stepped around a fallen cornerback

to race 43 yards with a quick out pass from Kasey Peters to cut into

CdM’s 14-0 first-quarter lead.

After a 25-yard Brian Campos field goal pulled the visitors within

14-9 at halftime and senior tailback Matt Encinias scored the first

of his two touchdown runs to give the Tars the lead, Link made

Harbor’s play of the night. After fielding a short Peters pitch near

the east sideline, he unleashed some moves on the entire secondary,

broke back toward the west sideline, then turned up and sprinted into

the end zone for a 58-yard back breaker that covered about 90 yards.

“If you get him the ball in space, he’s usually going to make a

play for you,” Brinkley said. “We got him in man-to-man coverage and

when that happens, he’s tough to cover. When he came across to field

toward our bench [on his second TD], the coaches kept yelling ‘Turn

it up! Turn up! Then, when he got to the sideline and around the

corner, [running backs coach Bill Brown] said ‘I guess he turned it

up.’ ”

Link, an All-Sea View League receiver as a sophomore who came in

with six catches for 98 yards and three TDs this fall, finished with

five catches for 145 yards (a 29-yard average).

The Sailors, ranked No. 4 in CIF Southern Section Division VI,

were forced to turn up their intensity after the Sea Kings (2-1),

ranked No. 9 in CIF Division IX, struck early for two quick

touchdowns.

CdM’s own playmaker, junior Kevin Welch, snatched a deep pass from

his twin brother, Tom, between two Sailor defenders, for a 76-yard

touchdown on the first play of the game. The first of two David Del

Fante conversion kicks made it 7-0 with just 17 seconds elapsed and

also created a hush among the Newport faithful.

Six plays after the ensuing kickoff, Matt Burgner stripped the

ball on a sack and CdM teammate Zach Wishengrad recovered at the

Sailors’ 16.

After Tom Welch scrambled on third down for 10 yards and a first

down at the 2, he then hit Kevin Welch with another scoring strike

with 7:09 left in the first quarter.

“We got a good six minutes in anyway,” CdM Coach Dick Freeman

said. “I thought we did OK, but we just wore out.”

The offensive heroics of Link and Encinias, who rushed for 121 of

his 179 yards after halftime, as well as strong play in the trenches

on both sides of the ball, wore on CdM.

And the Sea Kings didn’t help themselves any by losing two

first-half fumbles, the latter forced by Sailor outside linebacker

Greg Miner and recovered by Newport’s Ryan Rippon at the Sea Kings’

20 to set up the second-quarter field goal.

Trailing, 22-14, early in the fourth quarter, the Sea Kings drove

24 yards to the Sailors’ 19, before back-to-back sacks by tackle Mark

Temple and end Saami Khalifian ended the threat with 3:56 left.

Newport proceeded to march 66 yards on five plays, all Encinias

carries, to finalize the scoring and earn its ninth win in the last

10 Battle of the Bay contests.

“We talked all week about not letting [the Sea Kings] out-athlete

us,” Brinkley said. “We saw against Costa Mesa they just chucked it

up and let [Kevin Welch] make a play and, sure enough, he made a

great play on their first snap. Then, their quarterback makes a nice

scramble to set up their second touchdown.”

Despite the early deficit, however, Khalifian said his team

remained focused.

“We came to play all four quarters and not be all hyped up at the

start,” said Khalifian, who also recovered a fumble caused by Thomas

Martin and now has a sack in each of Harbor’s victories this season.

“We let them get two cheap ones, but we knew everything was going to

be OK. We knew we were a good team and we played like it in the

second half.”

Kevin Welch finished with 97 yards on six catches and Tom Welch

led the hosts with 43 yards rushing.

Linebackers Wishengrad, Tyler Lance and Mordy Ornguze all stood

out defensively for CdM, while Newport’s defensive unit was paced by

Khalifian, Temple, linebackers Martin, Trevor Theriot, Miner and

Taylor Young.

“Even in the first half, I was pretty pleased with our defense,”

Brinkley said.

But Link’s ability to elude tacklers was the biggest key.

“I’m pretty confident I can make the first guy miss,” Link said.

“I just caught the ball and made a play. I wasn’t thinking about

making certain moves, I just wanted to let the play come to me. I

think everyone was kind of shocked to be behind, 14-0, but everyone

just started working harder to get the win.”