Sailors open tonight

The Newport Harbor High football team typically emerges from its

preseason scrimmage with an upbeat feeling of anticipation.

This season, the Sailors came away with laundry list of areas in

which Coach Jeff Brinkley wants to see immediate improvement.

Brinkley enters his 20th season at the helm of the Sailors tonight

at 7, when future Sunset League rival Fountain Valley visits for the

nonleague season opener for both schools.

The Sailors, coming off a 12-1-1 campaign in which they reached

the CIF Southern Section Division VI title game, were humbled in

Friday’s scrimmage with visiting Trabuco Hills.

“We had some major defensive breakdowns that led to some

touchdowns against us and we were a little hit-or-miss on offense,”

Brinkley said of the scrimmage.

“We have a lot of inexperience out there and sometimes, between

inexperience and coming off a real good year, guys can get a little

tentative. We need to get out of the shute well, win a few games

early and gain some confidence. Our guys have the ability, it’s just

a matter of doing it at this level.”

Senior quarterback Tom Jackson should inspire confidence among

Sailor supporters. Jackson, stepping in for All-CIF signal caller

Kasey Peters who is now at Saddleback Community College, threw for

739 yards as a sophomore, when Peters went down with a broken

collarbone.

Senior receiver James Coder, junior wideout Jarrett Daniel and

senior tight end Billy Brown figure to be Jackson’s primary targets.

Junior Jasen Ruiz and senior Delano McKenzie, both tailbacks,

should be the primary ball carriers behind an offensive line lead by

senior tackle Charles Schultz. Schultz (6-foot-4, 332 pounds) was a

second-team All-Sea View League performer as a junior.

Jackson, a second-team all-league free safety last fall, and

senior noseguard Ryan Uhl (6-0, 270) are the lone returning starters

on defense for the Sailors.

Fountain Valley rebounded from a 20-7 opening-week loss to Newport

Harbor last season to finish second in the Sunset and advance to the

CIF Division I playoffs. The Barons (5-6 last fall) are coached by

second-year head man John Shipp.

“They’re not as big as they were last year, but they have some

quickness,” said Brinkley, who was impressed after watching the

Barons scrimmage Long Beach Wilson last week.

“I was hoping for a little less and I got a little more,” Brinkley

said of his first look at the Barons.

Newport Harbor is 15-3-1 in openers under Brinkley and has won two

straight.