Sailors look to shut down spread offense

Satiated, briefly, by its season-opening victory over Fountain Valley

High, the Newport Harbor football team will now hope to devour what

Coach Jeff Brinkley called the flavor of the month.

Brinkley was referring to the spread offense that, thanks to Coach

Urban Meyer’s breakout success with the University of Utah, has

become wildly popular with both college and high school programs

nationwide.

Marina (0-2), which visits for a nonleague clash Friday at 7 p.m.,

will employ the no-huddle spread that typically features four

receivers, a single back and the quarterback lined up in the shotgun.

Coach Mike Dodd’s Vikings ran the offense two seasons ago, but

went away from it last year. A return to the scheme this season has,

based on their first two games, apparently made for a difficult

adjustment.

Marina, coming off a 1-9 season, has been outscored a combined

78-13 in losses to Los Osos of Rancho Cucamonga and Capistrano

Valley.

The Vikings surrendered 78 straight points spanning the two games.

Senior Victor Rancour has been the primary quarterback, thus far.

He has completed 16 of 41 for 179 yards. He has thrown four

interceptions and one touchdown pass.

The Vikings’ featured ball carrier has been senior Andre Gatlin,

who has 46 yards and one touchdown on 21 attempts this fall.

The Sailors displayed their typically solid ground game in a 14-7

win over future Sunset League rival Fountain Valley.

Junior tailback Jasen Ruiz rushed for 126 yards on 23 attempts as

the Sailors rolled up 222 of their 298 offensive yards on the ground.

Senior Tom Jackson completed 9 of 16 passes for 76 yards and one

TD, while senior tight end Billy Brown had four receptions for 49

yards and one TD.

The Newport Harbor defense held the Barons to a mere 53 rushing

yards in the opener.

The Sailors are 8-1-1 in their last 10 meetings with the Vikings,

including four straight wins against their future Sunset League

rivals.

Marina, which has made one trip to the CIF Southern Section

playoffs in the last 12 seasons, has lost 16 of its last 19 games.

“It doesn’t matter if your opponent is 0-2 or 8-0,” Brinkley said.

“You still need to work hard, prepare well and focus on improving the

same way every week. If we do that this week, we should be

successful.”

Brinkley said the Tars expect to be bolstered by the return of

6-foot, 259-pound senior offensive guard Billy Munce. Munce has been

sidelined with a broken arm.

NEWPORT STARTERS

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OFFENSE

No. Player Ht. Wt. Yr. Po.

4 Tom Jackson 6-1 185 Sr. QB

15 Jasen Ruiz 5-8 170 Jr. TB

32 Jack Tracy 6-1 220 Sr. FB

5 James Coder 6-0 180 Sr. WR

8 Jarrett Daniel 6-0 170 Jr. WR

22 Billy Brown 6-3 210 Sr. TE

77 Charles Schultz 6-4 332 Sr. LT

76 Alex Flores 6-2 206 Sr. LG

52 Lou Truxton 6-1 211 Sr. C

72 Billy Munce 6-0 259 Sr. RG

78 Matt McCullough 6-5 275 Sr. RT

*--*

*--*

DEFENSE

No. Player Ht. Wt. Yr. Po.

50 Jayme Ohlhaver 5-11 187 Sr. DE 95 Ryan Uhl 6-0 270 Sr. NG

55 Mike Calabrese 6-1 221 Jr. DT 40 Scott Andrews 6-1 201 Sr. DE 22 Billy Brown 6-3 210 Sr. LB

32 Jack Tracy 6-1 220 Sr. LB 23 David Rosales 5-10 205 Sr. LB 8 Jarrett Daniel 6-0 170 Jr. CB

9 Keith Eldridge 5-9 152 Sr. CB

5 James Coder 6-0 180 Sr. SS

4 Tom Jackson 6-1 185 Sr. FS *--*