Tars stumble

Patrick Laverty

Last week fog, this week rain and the future forecast for the Newport

Harbor High football team doesn’t get much brighter.

On-and-off showers Friday began once again as the Sailors’ final

drive stalled and, after three successive Irvine kneel downs, Newport

Harbor had dropped its third consecutive game, 22-20, keeping itself

at the bottom of the Sea View League.

The Sailors (5-3, 0-3 in league) now trail the league-leading

Vaqueros (7-1, 3-0) by three games and their most credible chance of

a CIF Southern Section playoff spot are attached to an at-large

berth.

“That’s our only chance now,” Sailors Coach Jeff Brinkley said.

“We’ve got to win two games and try to be the at-large team.”

The difference between trying for an at-large berth and first

place in the league has been minuscule. Once again, a yard here or a

penalty there prevented the Sailors from holding off a strong league

opponent.

Newport Harbor has lost its three league games by a combined 13

points. The decisive points in each of those games have been scored

in the fourth quarter.

“Believe me, we’ve talked about it as a team,” Brinkley said. “In

the last two games [against Foothill and Aliso Niguel], there were at

least 10 plays that could have turned things around. I’m sure we’ll

take a look at the film of this game and probably see 10 plays that

would have turned the tide. And that’s the difference between 3-0.”

The one play that will likely stick out in the minds of the

Sailors is Mike McKee’s 96-yard touchdown run with 8:44 remaining in

the game.

Trailing, 16-13, the Sailors had pinned Irvine back at its 4-yard

line after a Brian Campos punt. The Vaqueros loaded the backfield

with three backs. But they didn’t go to Jamaal Villa, the only

running back they had used up to that point. Instead, they ran a

counter play to McKee, who broke through the line of scrimmage and

outran the Newport Harbor defense, increasing Irvine’s lead to 22-13.

“We just didn’t stop their offense enough,” Brinkley said. “We

backed them up at the 4-yard line and we let them out of the hole.”

Newport Harbor’s offense stopped itself via penalties.

Prior to Campos’ fourth-quarter punt, the Sailors had driven to

Irvine’s 19-yard line after an 18-yard run by senior tailback Matt

Encinias. But a holding call, a block in the back and an offside

penalty took the Sailors out of scoring position and forced the punt.

Earlier in the second half, a run of more than 20 yards by

fullback Trevor Theriot was called back because of holding, putting

Harbor in a first-and-long situation that it couldn’t overcome.

In the second quarter, an 11-yard run by Encinias set up the

Sailors with a first down at the Irvine 16-yard line. An offside

penalty on third down pushed Harbor back and the Sailors turned the

ball over on downs.

The drive-killing penalties squashed Newport Harbor’s domination

in the second half. The Sailors controlled the ball for more than 17

minutes over the final two quarters and gained 12 first downs, but

only came up with 13 points.

Encinias put forth another quality effort, gaining 166 yards on a

season-high 35 carries. Sophomore quarterback Tom Jackson, making his

first start in place of the injured Kasey Peters, also played a

strong game. Jackson completed 11 of 26 passes for 161 yards and two

touchdowns. His favorite target was junior Taylor Young, who caught

both touchdowns and totaled 88 yards on six catches.

Harbor grabbed an early lead in the first quarter on a 26-yard

pass from Jackson to Young.

But Irvine tied the score early in the second quarter when

quarterback Luke Tracy hit McKee on a 6-yard scoring pass.

The Vaqueros go-ahead score came after a play that typifies how

close the Sailors have been in the last three games.

With just over two minutes remaining in the first half, Encinias

broke off a 12-yard run that was near the first down marker at the

Sailors’ 20-yard line. A first down likely would have allowed Harbor

to maintain possession for the remainder of the half. But the spot by

the official came up a ball length short of the first down, forcing

the Sailors to punt.

A 26-yard run by Villa set up an 8-yard scoring run by Tracy,

giving Irvine a 13-7 halftime lead.

The game of inches continued in the third quarter, after Harbor

had tied the score, 13-13. Irvine kicker Andrew McLaughlin booted a

47-yard field goal with 6:07 remaining in the third quarter that just

did clear the crossbar.