Prophetic hurler never had a doubt

Rick Devereux

Instead of playing quarterback for the Newport Harbor High football

team, Kasey Peters could try his hand at being a psychic. After all,

he did predict the outcome of the last play of the Sailors’ semifinal

game against Mayfair.

“I turned to [running back] Trevor [Theriot] and told him a

miracle was going to happen,” he said.

Boy was Peters right.

Following a 43-yard field goal with 3:20 left that gave Mayfair a

17-14 lead, the Tars marched 69 yards to the Monsoons’ 11-yard line

to set up Travis Duffield’s 28-yard game-tying field goal with 25.5

seconds remaining.

The Newport defense caused and recovered a Mayfair fumble, giving

Peters and the offense the ball on the Monsoons’ 30 with 12.7 left.

The call from the sideline was a play appropriately named ‘score’

that had Alex Orth streak into the end zone with Spencer Link and

James Coder looking for a deflection.

That’s when Peters told his running back the Sailors were going to

win on what essentially boiled down to a Hail Mary.

“I had confidence in Alex,” Peters said. “I just had a really good

feeling that everything was going to work out for us. Our defense

stepped up huge to turn the ball over and I just knew we were going

to win the game and go to the championship.”

Peters’ Nostradamus-esque moment was fulfilled when Orth

out-jumped three defenders to come down with the game-winning catch

with 4.2 seconds left.

Peters, who’s career-high 321 passing yards and two touchdowns

against Mayfair earned him Daily Pilot Athlete of the Week honors,

said the comeback was one of his most memorable athletic moments.

What could compare with throwing the game-winning touchdown pass

to send your team into a championship game?

A come-from-behind victory over Back Bay rivals Corona del Mar

High in Week 3.

“There are some similarities [between the CdM and Mayfair games],”

Peters said. “Both were big games in front of a lot of screaming

fans. I would have hated to finish my senior year losing to CdM.”

Peters had big goals set for his last campaign with the Sailors.

“I went to the [Division VI] championship game against Orange

Lutheran and Los Altos last year with [defensive tackle] Kaiona

[Kalama-Dutro],” Peters said. “I made up my mind right there that I

was going to play in the championship game my senior year.”

Yet another prophecy fulfilled.

Newport (12-0-1) is in the midst of its fifth unbeaten season

thanks in large part to Peters.

“He’s had a great year for us,” Coach Jeff Brinkley said. “He’s a

very accurate passer and a good leader for us.”

Brinkley knew the type of athlete he had under center before the

season began because Peters was the starting quarterback last year

for the Sailors until he broke his collarbone in the fourth quarter

of the Alison Niguel game in Week 7.

That injury was inspiration for Peters.

“I had my mind set that I would be able to come back from a big

injury,” he said. “It gave me more desire to get better in all

aspects of the game.”

Peters worked tirelessly in the off season on his footwork,

delivery and defensive recognition.

“He is like a gym rat who is always shooting hoops,” Brinkley

said. “Except he is always throwing the football. He is one of those

guys that just loves to throw the ball. He loves the game of

football.”

Peters has not thrown for more than 200 yards as a varsity QB, but

the team has not had to rely on a strong passing attack in order to

be successful because the running game has been so dominating.

“Having great running game opens up the pass,” Peters said. “My

numbers really don’t matter because we’re winning. All those

quarterbacks who threw for a whole bunch of yards are sitting on

their couch while I’m still playing. Winning is the only thing that

matters.”