Eldridge sparks Tars’ triumph

After the scoreless first half of a hard-fought, season-opening

football game against visiting Fountain Valley High, Newport Harbor

football coach Jeff Brinkley believed the Sailors needed a little

something extra to get over the hump.

And, on a night when several aspects of the Sailors’ game

contributed to the 14-7 victory, senior Keith Eldridge was, arguably,

the X factor.

Eldridge, who started at cornerback, blocked a punt and collected

the loose ball on the Fountain Valley 25-yard line with 10:10 left in

the third quarter. Then, on the next snap, the 5-foot-9, 152-pounder

sprinted around the right side for a touchdown that seemed to allow

the Newport rooters among the 4,000 on hand to exhale.

Eldridge, who picked up 8 combined yards the final two plays

before intermission, then carried four times for 13 yards and caught

a 7-yard pass on the Sailors’ nine-play, 53-yard drive that produced

the game-winning touchdown.

Senior tight end Billy Brown caught an 11-yard Tom Jackson pass

while sitting down in the end zone for the second Sailor TD, which

was followed by the second of two conversion kicks by Travis Duffield

with 54 seconds left in the third period.

Fountain Valley made things interesting, as Wayne Glisson caught a

lateral pass and threw 40 yards, through the hands of a Newport

defender, to Brenden Geck for a touchdown with 8:04 left in the game.

The visitors took over after a punt on its own 29 with 3:11 left

and used three passes and a run to move to the Tars’ 35.

But Sailor outside linebacker David Rosales stripped Fountain

Valley receiver Jordare Lewis of the ball after a 12-yard gain and middle linebacker Jack Tracy scooped it up and returned it 12 yards

with 1:11 left.

The Sailors, now 16-3-1 in openers under Brinkley, ran out the

clock to rebound from a shaky showing in a Sept. 2 scrimmage against

Trabuco Hills.

Tracy was among several Sailor heroes, who included virtually the

entire defense and a consistently productive offensive running game.

“We played good defense and we got just enough offense to win,”

Brinkley said. “And I thought we ran the ball real well. And I told

the kids that we could win a game early on special teams.”

Junior starting tailback Jasen Ruiz pounded away for 126 yards on

23 carries, though he didn’t produce a double-digit gain until his

18th attempt.

By then, the speedier Eldridge had made his mark.

“We were moving the ball in the first half, but I just felt like

we needed a big play guy,” Brinkley said. “And Eldridge has the

speed.”

With Tracy adding 54 yards on five carries, the Sailors rolled up

222 of their 298 yards offensive yards on the ground. Tackles Charles

Schultz and Matt McCullough, guards Alex Flores and Erik Ray, as well

as center Lou Truxton helped the Tars build a huge advantage in time

of possession (30 minutes, 4 seconds to the Barons’ 17:56).

Brown caught four passes for 49 yards and Jackson finished 9 of 16

for 76 yards in the air.

Defensively, Tracy was among many standouts.

Jarrett Daniel intercepted a pass at his own 21 for a big

first-half stop, while four players were in on the Tars’ two sacks.

The Barons had just 53 rushing yards to go with 141 passing.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

*--*

Fountain Valley 0 0 0 7 - 7

Newport Harbor 0 0 14 0 - 14

*--*

THIRD QUARTER

NH -- Eldridge 25 run (Duffield kick), 9:56.

NH -- Brown 11 pass from Jackson (Duffield kick), 0:54.

FOURTH QUARTER

FV -- Geck 40 pass from Glisson (Spirk kick), 8:04.

A -- 3,000 (est.)

INDIVIDUAL RUSHING

FV -- Aoyagi, 7-40; Tucker, 3-16; Diaz, 2-12; Webber, 5-minus-15.

NH -- Ruiz, 23-126; Eldridge, 9-51, 1 TD; Tracy, 5-54; Jackson,

1-minus-7; team, 2-minus-2.

INDIVIDUAL PASSING

FV -- Webber, 10-21-1, 101; Glisson, 1-1-0, 40, 1 TD.

NH -- Jackson, 9-16-0, 76, 1 TD.

INDIVIDUAL RECEIVING

FV -- Spirk, 4-21; Fuller, 2-41; Geck, 1-40, 1 TD; Lewis, 2-18;

Tucker, 1-18; Glisson, 1-3.

NH -- Brown, 4-49, 1 TD; Coder 2-18; Eldridge, 1-7; Ruiz, 1-3;

Daniel, 1-minus-1.

GAME STATISTICS

*--*

FV NH

First downs 7 17

Rushes-yardage 17-53 40-222

Passing yardage 141 76

Passing 11-22-1 9-16-0

Net return yards* 10 51

Sacks-yardage 2-10 1-7

Net yardage 204 349

Punts 5-37.4 4-27

Fumbles-fumbles lost 2-1 3-2

Flags-net yardage 5-33 4-35

Time of possession 17:56 30:04

*Punt returns, interceptions, fumble returns

*--*