Sailor football players should keep their heads high

We can understand if players on the Newport Harbor High School

football team are having trouble forgetting their final game of the

year. Like everyone else who watched the team run, pass and defend

its way to the CIF Southern Section Division VI championship game, we

very much want them instead to remember the 13 games that led to

their playing at Angel Stadium.

But we understand that the last game might be freshest in their

minds. And a loss, especially in a title game, can be difficult to

shake. So we aren’t going to pretend the 35-6 loss to Orange Lutheran

didn’t happen. But we also aren’t going to dwell on it.

Why would we? Look at what this team accomplished.

Most obviously, they reached the title game and played their best

against a team that, by all accounts, is bound for a bigger and

tougher CIF division.

It was the school’s seventh trip to the championship game, dating

back to 1942.

The Sailors made the trek to Angel Stadium by rolling through

their competition, going undefeated to that point with a 12-0-1

record.

Not that it was an easy ride. The team landed in the championship

game on a last-second touchdown pass from senior quarterback Kasey

Peters to senior Alex Orth, the type of play that defines “winner.”

And there were plenty of winners on this team. Along with Peters

and Orth, the offense included senior tailback Trevor Theriot, one of

the nation’s top rushers; senior Spencer Link, who set the school

career-receptions mark this year; senior Efrain Castro; junior James

Coder; junior Joseph Flores; senior Steve Joslin; senior Greg Miner;

junior Charles Schultz; senior Chris Taylor; and Junior Jack Tracy.

The team was as impressive on the other side of the ball, allowing

just 9.5 points per game. Senior defensive tackle Kaiona Kalama-Dutr

and senior middle linebacker Thomas Martin anchored a group that also

included senior Grant Casserly; senior Matt Erickson; junior Tom

Jackson; senior Saami Khalifian; senior Greg Miner; senior Sean Rowe;

junior Ryan Uhl; and senior Taylor Young.

Like the rest of the community, we are proud of them, the rest of

the team and coach Jeff Brinkley and his staff. Thanks for an

exciting, unforgettable year.