Sailors conquer Pirates

Barry Faulkner

For the one that got away, Newport Harbor High quarterback Kasey

Peters offered a sheepish wince.

But, as with most aspects of the Sailors’ 28-10 nonleague football

victory at Paramount High Friday night, there was little

justification for regret.

The “one” Peters lamented was his lone incompletion in 13 pass

attempts, as he threw for 138 yards and three TDs, the latter all in

the first half, to propel an efficient victory that gave the Tars

their first 5-0 start since 1998.

“I had [junior tight end Greg Miner] open in the end zone, I just

missed him,” said Peters, critiquing perhaps the best performance in

the junior’s five varsity starts.

Peters hit Grant Casserly on a quick slant for a 13-yard touchdown

to open the scoring, capping an eight-play, 59-yard drive on the

visitors’ first possession.

After a short punt set the Sailors up at the Paramount 32, Peters

threw for 9 yards to Alex Orth, then, following a 9-yard Matt

Encinias run and the aforementioned incompletion, he connected in the

flat to junior Spencer Link, who spun away from a defender for a

14-yard scoring catch and run. Brian Campos drilled the second of his

four conversion kicks to put the Sailors, ranked No. 4 in CIF

Southern Section Division VI, in command with 10:49 left in the first

half.

After Paramount (1-4) cashed in a fumble recovery with a 40-yard

Jesus Ochoa field goal with 2:34 left in the first half, Link

returned the ensuing kickoff 54 yards to the Paramount 44 and Peters

needed just three snaps, all completions, to find the end zone once

again. The touchdown came on a 25-yard skinny post to Link, who

cradled the pass while sliding in the end zone for his ninth TD

reception of the season.

Peters is now 46 for 84 for 973 yards and 11 TDs. He has yet to

throw an interception this season.

Peters was 10 for 11 for 120 yards before halftime as Paramount’s

preoccupation with trying to stop the vaunted Sailor ground game,

created some openings in the secondary.

“We had no idea they’d use that alignment, but we adjusted and

came out throwing, I guess,” Peters said. “Our defense is playing

great, we had good field position all night, and our running game

helped set up the pass.”

Peters, throwing primarily from shotgun formation, also said he

continues to settle into the pocket.

“I think I’m getting more and more comfortable, he said.

Newport Coach Jeff Brinkley is certainly comfortable with Peters’

productivity and efficiency, though he was quick to praise other

aspects of his team’s performance against the Pirates.

“Kasey threw the ball really effectively, [Encinias] ran it well

and I thought we were pretty balanced, offensively,” Brinkley said.

Encinias, who rushed for 100 yards on 19 carries and had punt

returns of 39 and 17 yards to help maintain the field-position edge,

finalized the Newport scoring with a 7-yard run that capped a

seven-play drive with the second-half kickoff. Encinias now has 604

rushing yards and seven TDs this fall.

Link finished with 51 yards on four catches and now has nearly one

TD for every two catches this season [nine scores in 21 grabs], while

juniors Taylor Young and Alex Orth split six receptions for a

combined 95 yards as Peters utilized six different targets.

Less flashy, but equally proficient was Newport Harbor’s defense,

which not only contained, but shut down a speedy collection of

skill-position players that had Brinkley concerned coming in.

“Our defense hasn’t faced too much of that wing-T-type offense,

but our defensive staff had us well prepared,” Brinkley said.

Tackles Mark Temple and Austin Nieto, as well as starting ends

Saami Khalifian and Sean Rowe, were ever-present in the trenches,

while linebackers Thomas Martin, Young, Miner and Trevor Theriot, as

well as safeties Orth and Ryan Rippon, limited Paramount to just 29

rushing yards and 8 through the air, until giving way to the second

unit with 5:09 left in the game.