History in the making

The Newport Harbor High football team will play in the school’s

seventh championship game today at 2 p.m. at Angel Stadium against

top-seeded Orange Lutheran, the sixth title game under Coach Jeff

Brinkley.

The Sailors have won the championship game twice, beating Irvine,

19-18, in 1999 and a 20-15 victory over Servite in 1994.

Newport’s most recent trip to the big game was in 2000 where

Irvine exacted revenge with a 14-0 win.

The Sailors also lost the 1992 title game to Irvine, 30-8.

The Tars finished 12-2 in the 1996 season. Both losses, including

the 38-0 loss in the CIF Southern Section Division V championship

game, came at the hands of Santa Margarita and its quarterback,

Carson Palmer.

Newport Harbor’s first title game was in 1942 under Coach Wendell

Pickens. The Sailors lost to Bonita, 39-6.

Here’s recap of Harbor’s previous six CIF title games:

1942

Heisman winner pounds Tars

In the first title game for Newport Harbor, the Bonita Bobcats won

the CIF small schools championship, 39-6.

Standout running back Harold Sheflin scored from 1 yard out to

give the Sailors a 6-0 lead.

But Glenn Davis, who won the Heisman Trophy four years later at

Army, put on a scoring surge after Sheflin left the game with an

ankle injury.

Davis scored on a 75-yard punt return, a 58-yard run in the third

quarter and also threw a touchdown late in the fourth.

Davis was joined by future USC fullback Duane Whitehead in the

Bonita backfield.

Newport countered with second-team All-CIF tackle Manuel Muniz,

who went on to play for Arizona State after being wounded in Okinawa

in 1945 as an army infantryman.

1992

Irvine duels begin at OCC

The first of three division title games against Irvine ended with

a 30-8 Vaquero victory in the CIF Southern Section Division IV

championship at Orange Coast College.

It was the first championship game for Newport in 50 years.

The Sailors got hot in the playoffs, upsetting top-seeded Rubidoux

28-14 in the quarterfinals.

The Tars’ defense, including linemen Beau Ralphs, Phil Bloomberg,

Doug Kimble and Craig Conlee, as well as linebackers Jeff Sanita,

Steve Gonzales, Nathan Lumpkin and Justin Ketcham, yields just 71

yards in the final three quarters.

Sammy Knight, who played for USC and is currently in his eighth

year in the NFL, scored twice to give the Falcons a 14-0 lead. But

Newport soared back in the second half to win.

The victory over Rubidoux propelled the Tars into a semifinal

contest against Back Bay rival Corona del Mar.

Wade Tift scored the game-winning touchdown, a 30-yard run up the

middle with 53 seconds remaining to break a 21-21 tie.

Newport’s Doug Stuckey, who went on to play at Oregon State

University as a freshmen, was the Orange County leader with 12 field

goals that year.

1994

Perfect Tars hold off Friars

Undefeated, unblemished and No. 1.

That’s how the Sailors (14-0) finished the ’94 season after

knocking off Servite, 20-15, in the CIF Southern Section Division V

championship at Orange Coast College, the first title in the

program’s history.

Future All-CIF middle linebacker Joe Urban played most of the game

as a sophomore after Matt Riggle was injured early in the contest.

Tailback Brian Johnson, the CIF Division V Player of the Year,

rushed for 147 yards in 19 carries in the title game.

Quarterback John Giordani ran for one TD and threw the

game-winning score.

Dan Eadie sacked the Servite QB and caused a fumble, which

defensive end Jack Hogan recovered with 2:37 left to seal the

victory.

Hogan, tight end/linebacker Dan McDonough, receiver Mike Freeman,

offensive tackle Sherif Pepic and nose guard/offensive guard Bill

Johns were named All-CIF.

To get into the championship game, Newport beat Sea View League

rival Foothill, 13-10, in overtime in the semifinals.

Faced with a fourth-and-one, Coach Jeff Brinkley called a run play

and a run behind Johns and tackle James Moureaux. Johnson was hit at

the goal line, spun and powered into the end zone for the

game-winning run.

1996

Carson Palmer sinks Sailors

The 1996 Sailors finished with two losses in the season, both

coming at the hands of Santa Margarita and its quarterback, Carson

Palmer.

Palmer went on to win the 2002 Heisman Trophy while at USC and was

the No. 1 pick by the Cincinnati Bengals in the 2003 NFL Draft.

Newport was shut out, 38-0, in the CIF Southern Section Division V

championship game by the Eagles.

The Sailors lost in the Sea View League opener to Santa Margarita,

36-22.

Quarterback Josiah Fredriksen threw 29 touchdown passes to just

six interceptions that year, completing 157 of his 260 pass attempts

for 2,142 yards.

The Tars pulled off a 23-16 upset over Servite in the semifinals

to advance to the school’s fourth championship game in the program’s

history.

1999

Sailors squeak past Irvine

Newport Harbor (13-0-1) capped off its second undefeated season in

school history with a come-from-behind 19-18 victory over Irvine at

Orange Coast College in the CIF Southern Section Division VI

championship.

The Vaqueros scored on their first offensive play, a 64-yard pass

from Mike Ricci to James Whitted just 1:54 into the game.

The Sailors fell behind 12-0 on another Ricci pass, the biggest

deficit of the season and the first in nearly seven full games for

Newport.

Brian Gaeta’s 38-yard field goal produced the only first-half

points for the Tars.

The Sailors’ defense, which had allowed an Orange County-low 99

points headed into the game, forced a fumble on Irvine’s first play

of the second half. Cornerback Kelsey Peterson recovered the loose

ball at the Irvine 13 and Gaeta halved the Vaquero lead with a

36-yard field goal.

Newport’s Andre Stewart, the Sea View League Offensive Player of

the Year, rushed for a game-high 159 yards on 33 carries. He scored

on a 19-yard run behind 6-foot-8, 262-pound left tackle Blair Jones

that made it 18-13, Irvine.

The subsequent 82-yard kickoff return for a touchdown by Irvine’s

Keith Short was nullified by a clipping penalty.

Junior end Garret Troncale came untouched from the left side to

sack the Irvine quarterback and force a fumble. Senior nose guard

Andy Kalanz recovered the ball and returned it 4 yards for the

game-winning touchdown.

2000

Irvine blanks Newport, 14-0

The Sailors lost to Irvine, 14-0, at Orange Coast College in a

rematch of the 1999 CIF Southern Section Division VI championship.

The Vaquero’s finished 14-0, their first undefeated season in

program history.

Newport (11-4) caused three first-half turnovers.

Garret Troncale caused a fumble on a quarterback sack which Ian

Banigan recovered.

Alan Saenz made an acrobatic interception and Dane Barton picked

off another Irvine pass

But the Vaqueros’ defense handed the Tars their first shutout in

50 contests.

Newport’s Chris Manderino, the Sea View League Offensive Player of

the Year, gained 73 rushing yards on 24 carries marking the first

time in 13 games he was held to fewer than 100 rushing yards.

Receiver Brian Gaeta caught eight passes for 79 yards, giving him

62 catches on the year, the third-best single-season total in the

school’s 70-season varsity history at the time.

-- Rick Devereux