Sailors rumble past Hawks

Rick Devereux

It took a total of six offensive plays, not including punts, for the

Newport Harbor High football team to show that it would not take Sea

View League opponent Laguna Hills lightly Friday night at Davidson

Field in a 55-0 blowout.

The Sailors held Laguna Hills to a three-and-out on its first

possession and responded three plays and 56 seconds later with a

5-yard touchdown pass from Kasey Peters to Alex Orth.

“We wanted to set the tempo early,” Coach Jeff Brinkley said. “For

us to come out and stop them and then march down the field and score

right away gave us a lot of momentum.”

The momentum stayed with Newport (8-0-1, 3-0-1 in league), as the

Sailors scored on their next two possessions without allowing a

Laguna (0-9, 0-4) first down.

Peters hit Spencer Link on a 17-yard slant over the middle. The

senior bobbled the ball, but gained control as he crossed the goal

line. Peters completed his first six pass attempts for 73 yards and

two touchdowns.

“It was nice to get into a rhythm,” said Peters, who finished with

seven completions on eight pass attempts. “But Trevor [Theriot] was

running great and the line gave me all day to throw the ball.”

Theriot ran 7 yards on a sweep to the right for the third straight

Newport touchdown of the first quarter. Travis Duffield, who

converted seven extra points, gave the Tars a 21-0 lead.

Theriot sprinted 57 yards on Newport’s second possession of the

second quarter and scored on an 11-yard blast up the middle on the

next drive.

Newport Harbor finished the first half with more points (35) than

the Hawks had yards (24). The Sailors held Laguna to one first down

to open the game.

“We had great balance in the first half,” Brinkley said. “Kasey

was throwing the ball really well and we were able to pick up yardage

running as well. And I thought our defense played really well.”

Ryan Rippon carried the first half momentum into the third quarter

when he capped off an 80-yard drive with a 6-yard touchdown run up

the middle.

Sophomore Keith Eldridge bounced an inside handoff to his left for

a 24-yard touchdown to start the fourth quarter. A personal foul

penalty on Newport resulted in a 35-yard point after attempt, which

was blocked.

It looked like the Hawks might spoil the shutout late in the game

when Laguna drove all the way to the Newport Harbor 4, but the

defense forced a turnover on downs.

“I’m pleased our reserves had that nice goal line stand,” Brinkley

said. “Those guys get excited when they get in there. Their hair is

on fire they want to make a play so much.”

Three plays later, Eldridge sprinted 93-yards down the Laguna

Hills sideline for a touchdown. Eldridge ran on the 100- and

200-meter sprints and is a member of the 400- and 800-meter relay

teams for the Newport Harbor track team.

“He’s got great speed,” Brinkley said. “He ran at tailback in the

junior varsity game. He used to be a wide receiver, but we were thin

at tailback at the JV level so we put him in. He’s a heck of an

athlete for us.”

Despite the outcome, Newport Harbor clearly did not want to run up

the score. The Sailors attempted three passes in the second half

compared to 22 runs. And the plays usually were power-running plays

between the tackles.

“We had a few tosses and sweeps in there, but it was mostly just

powers and blasts,” Brinkley said. “We will have a small window to

enjoy this, but we’ve got to start the process all over again

tomorrow to prepare for Woodbridge.”