Newport reigns in Back Bay

The 44th edition of the Battle of the Bay football game between

visiting host Corona del Mar High and Newport Harbor Friday night at

Orange Coast College ended with a snapshot capsule of the entire

night.

And all but a few flashes in Newport Harbor’s 14-0 nonleague

victory before 7,300 were provided by both teams’ defenses.

On the final play, the Sailors converged to halt a CdM quarterback

sneak 1 yard short of the goal line to preserve the shutout and

supply a fitting end to a defensive performance that could rival any

in the history of the crosstown series that began in 1963.

“It was a good defensive game,” said Newport Harbor Coach Jeff

Brinkley, whose Sailors (3-0), ranked No. 2 in CIF Southern Section

Division VI defeated CdM for the seventh straight year, one shy of

the longest winning streak in the series. Newport has now won 11 of

the last 12 meetings and leads the series, 32-12.

The Sailors held CdM to just one first down until fewer than two

minutes remained. The Sea Kings, blanked for the seventh time in the

series, the last being in 2002, picked up 68 of their 111 offensive

yards on their final possession. On that final drive, CdM marched to

the Newport Harbor 1 after Matt Loyd returned the kickoff into Sailor

territory following the Sailors’ second touchdown with 2:03 left.

“That was great at the end,” Brinkley said of the final defensive

stand that gave the Tars their first shutout of the season. “I think

that showed a little intestinal fortitude on the part of our guys.”

The Sailors, however, weren’t the only sterling defense on the

field.

CdM defenders showed similar fortitude all evening, limiting the

Sailors to just 131 offensive yards and a mere seven first downs.

“Our defense did a heck of a job,” CdM Coach Dick Freeman said.

“This one came down to two mistakes.”

The mistakes Freeman referenced were a pair of fumbles that led to

short Sailor touchdown opportunities.

“What did they have, two 10-yard drives?” Freeman said.

Newport Harbor scored first after tackle Mike Calabrese and

linebacker David Rosales combined to sack the CdM quarterback for a

2-yard loss. On the play, the ball came loose and safety Brett Green

scooped it up at the Sea Kings’ 30-yard line and returned it to the

15.

Four plays later, senior Jack Tracy scored on a 1-yard run and

Travis Duffield made the first of his two conversion kicks with 10:36

left in the first half.

Four plays into the ensuing CdM possession, Newport Harbor senior

outside linebacker Billy Brown recovered another Sea King fumble at

the hosts’ 29.

But CdM’s defense, led all night by senior end Matt Burgner (two

sacks to give him 31 for his career, tying Roger Rolle for the school

career record), senior noseguard John Fairbanks, senior inside

linebacker Shaun Mohler and sophomore outside ‘backer Erik Rask,

forced the Sailors into retreat mode.

Burgner tripped up a rollout for an 11-yard sack on first down and

Fairbanks collected the quarterback on a keeper for a 4-yard loss on

second down.

CdM cornerback Steve Hillgren than ended the threat, closing

aggressively on post pattern to intercept at his own 3 and return it

40 yards to get CdM out of trouble.

CdM’s offense, however, seldom made much trouble for the Sailors.

Until its final drive, the Sea Kings (2-1), ranked No. 8 in CIF

Division IX, had penetrated no deeper than the Newport Harbor 34-yard

line.

An 11-yard run by senior tailback Matt Loyd was the Sea Kings’

most prolific gain, until that final possession.

“We felt like we held them in check pretty well,” Brinkley said.

“We told our guys at halftime that we thought we needed just one more

touchdown, because [the Sea Kings] were having trouble moving the

ball on us.”

“We had a few scoring opportunites, but CdM played good defense.

[The Sea Kings] have some physical kids who are very good players,

like Burgner and Mohler. They can play.”

Junior Charlie Albright intercepted at his own 16 to halt the

Sailors’ first possession, but CdM could not recover any of the

visitors’ three fumbles.

Newport Harbor, meanwhile, cashed in its third fumble recovery to

post its final score.

Calabrese, once again, knocked the ball lose on a sack and junior

end Jayme Ohlhaver pounced on the ball at the CdM 9-yard line.

Tracy, who finished with a game-high 62 rushing yards on 12

carries, carried twice to double the lead. The touchdown came on a

3-yard run on which Tracy dagged a tackler close enough to allow

himself to lunge over the goal line.

Scott Andrews, Jarrett Daniel, Tracy, James Coder, Nick Frazier,

Ryan Uhl and Fernando Lara also made eye-catching plays for the

Sailors’ defense.

In addition to the aforementioned CdM defenders, Keaten Price,

Tommy Folks, Andrew Williamson and Mike Gratzinger contributed to a

strong performance.

The 14 points scored by Newport Harbor were the Sailors’ fewest in

the series since they had just seven in back-to-back wins in 1994 and

‘95.

Mohler, who came on in relief at quarterback, paced the CdM

offense, rushing for 35 yards and throwing for 58 more, all of the

latter coming on the final possession.

Beginning at its own 47, Mohler threw 5 yards to Loyd, then

scrambled for 7 more for the hosts’ second first down, to the

Sailors’ 41.

Though a procedure penalty and a holding call backed the Sea Kings

up, Mohler scrambled or threw to keep CdM hopes alive.

He hit Hillgren on a 22-yard post, then mixed a 3-yard scramble

between two completions to Loyd, to put the Sea Kings on the

doorstep.

Loyd was tripped up at the 1 on his final reception of the night

with about nine seconds left. As the clock ticked down, CdM hurried

to get off the final play, but Mohler was stonewalled for no gain on

his sneak attempt.

Calabrese was in on four of the Sailors’ five sacks as Newport

stopped six plays for losses, six more for no gain and three others

for a mere yard gain.

Until the final two minutes, CdM had one complete pass for minus-2

yards.

“It feels real good,” Calabrese said of the Sailors’ defensive

performance.

“We did our job and the offense did its job, too.”

Brinkley, however, was hardly impressed by his offense.

“We need to go back to the drawing board and find a we to get this

thing goosed up a little to where we can start scoring some more

point,” Brinkley said.

The Sailors had just 41 yards through the air. They completed just

5 of 15 pass attempts.

One comnpletion, a 15-yard Tom Jackson toss to Brown on

third-and-11, moved the chains and also moved the ball to the Sea

Kings 1-yard line to set up Tracy’s first touchdown run.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

*--*

Newport 0 7 0 7 - 14

CdM 0 0 0 0 - 0

*--*

SECOND QUARTER

NH -- Tracy 1 run (Duffield kick), 10:36.

FOURTH QUARTER

NH -- Tracy 3 run (Duffield kick), 2:03.

A -- 7,400 (est.)

INDIVIDUAL RUSHING

NH -- Tracy, 12-62, 2 TDs; Ruiz, 17-46; Jackson, 6-minus-18.

CdM -- Loyd, 16-42; Mohler, 10-35; Folkes, 2-5; Burgner, 1-3;

Wigley, 4-minus-30.

INDIVIDUAL PASSING

NH -- Jackson, 5-15-2, 41.

CdM -- Mohler, 6-12-0, 58; Wigley, 1-3-0, minus-2.

INDIVIDUAL RECEIVING

NH -- Daniel, 2-13; Brown, 1-15; Frazier, 1-7, Coder, 1-6.

CdM -- Loyd, 4-18; Hillgren, 1-22; Dupuie, 1-11; Fenton, 1-5.

GAME STATISTICS

*--*

NH CdM

First downs 7 5

Rushes-yardage 38-90 33-55

Passing yardage 41 56

Passing 5-15-2 7-15-0

Net return yards* 17 58

Sacks-yardage 2-13 5-34

Net yardage 148 169

Punts 6-30.5 7-36.9

Fumbles-fumbles lost 3-0 5-3

Flags-net yardage 5-40 9-79

Time of possession 26:08 21:52

*Punt returns, interceptions, fumble returns

*--*