Battle of Bay lives up to billing

Rick Devereux

Sometimes an event fails to live up to the hype surrounding it.

Ryan Leaf.

California Adventure.

Star Wars Episode 1.

But the 2004 installment of the Battle of the Bay surpassed any

pregame excitement.

Newport Harbor High, No. 1 in CIF Southern Section Division VI,

and Corona del Mar, No. 4 in CIF Division IX, played an epic battle

that was decided in the last 3:27 of the game.

The Sailors erased a 17-0 third-quarter deficit to score 21

unanswered points to win, 21-17, in front of a standing-room-only

crowd at Newport Harbor Thursday night.

Down, 17-6, with less than four minutes left in the game, the Tars

(3-0) defense forced CdM (3-1) to punt from its own 25. Spencer Link,

playing in his first game since injuring his shoulder in summer

practice, received the kick at the Newport 37-yard line. He scooted

up the middle, then cut to his right and raced 63 yards for the

touchdown with 3:27 left in the game.

Newport Harbor had to go for the two-point conversion to make it a

three-point game. Quarterback Kasey Peters dropped back to pass and

flipped the ball over the blitzing outside linebacker. Thomas Martin,

who sat out the first two games of the season with a stomach ailment

and playing fullback for an injured Trevor Theriot, tripped in the

end zone but recovered in time to catch the ball and make it 17-14.

“I was checking down [to block the linebacker], and stumbled a

bit, but I caught the pass,” Martin said.

The Sea Kings handed off the ball three consecutive times to run

off the clock, but the Newport Harbor defense stuffed the

third-and-four attempt to bring up another punting situation.

Newport Harbor started the drive at its own 25-yard line with 1:45

left in the game. Peters, who was 12 of 26 for 100 yards with two

interceptions up until that point, threw completions to Link for a

gain of 15, Alex Orth for 14, and then Link, who snatched the ball

away from the cornerback, over the middle for a touchdown of 46 yards

to give Newport Harbor a 21-17 lead with 1:07 left and send the

Newport Harbor fans into a frenzy.

“We ran our two-minute drill and Kasey came over [while the clock

was stopped to move the chains] and said we should run X-in Post,”

Newport Coach Jeff Brinkley said. “He called that play for Link, who

made a great catch.”

The final minutes of the game were as fast-paced as the other 44

minutes were defensive oriented.

Corona del Mar jumped out to a 3-0 lead on Andrew Hummel’s 24-yard

field goal in the second quarter after recovering a fumble on the

Newport Harbor 9-yard line. Following linebacker Billy Brown’s

19-yard interception to the Newport Harbor 3, Wess Presson ran to the

right side for a 10-0 halftime lead.

At the half Corona had 38 yards of offense, while the Sailors

managed to rack up 87.

“I told our defense at the half to keep their heads up,” Brinkley

said. “Their offense wasn’t really doing much, so I told our guys to

keep fighting hard.”

Presson returned the second-half kickoff 62 yards to the 32, and

five plays later, Tom Welch threw a 5-yard curl to wide receiver

Kevin Welch, who caught the ball at the 2 and spun past the defender

to walk in for a touchdown.

Not to be out done, Newport Harbor put together a five play,

64-yard drive on the ensuing series, capped off by Peters rolling to

his right and hitting fullback Jack Tracey in the flats for an

11-yard touchdown. The kick sailed wide left to put the score at

17-6. It stayed that way until Link’s punt return in the fourth

quarter.

“We’ve had some real wild games against Corona, and this one was

pretty wild,” Brinkley said. “I’m really, really satisfied with the

way our guys played from being behind the eight-ball and battling

back.”

The sentiment was not shared on the Sea Kings’ sideline.

“I aged 5 years in that game,” said CdM special teams coach Brent

Ogden.

When asked what he thought about the exciting game, Corona del Mar

head Coach said, “No it wasn’t.”

The Newport Harbor seniors were celebrating the team’s sixth

straight victory over the crosstown rivals.

“It feels awesome,” Martin said. “It’s the best feeling in the

world right now.”

Senior defensive tackle Kaiona Kalama-Dutro applied pressure on

the quarterback throughout the game and registered a sack late in the

fourth.

“It was just a speed rush to the outside,” Kalama-Dutro said. “Our

offense stepped up and made the plays when they needed to win the

game for us.”

Running back Jasen Ruiz was called into action after Theriot

suffered a fractured left arm midway through the third quarter. The

sophomore rushed once for 3 yards and caught two passes for 9 during

a fourth-quarter drive.

“We’ve got a great group of seniors here and they all told me they

needed me to step up,” he said. “I’m really happy for all of them.”

Brinkley was happy for the seniors, but sad that his star tailback

and linebacker could did not witness the victory. Theriot injured his

arm when the score was 17-6.

“It breaks my heart he wasn’t here to see the end,” Brinkley said.

“Our kids rallied, and I’m happy for all of them.”