Tars get overtime victory

PLACENTIA -- Trailing by one with the season on the line in overtime of Friday’s first-round CIF Southern Section Division VI playoff game, Newport Harbor High football coach Jeff Brinkley chose wide-bodies right over wide left.

And after senior tailback Ryan Rippon darted one yard off right tackle for the game-winning two-point conversion to top El Dorado, 32-31, at Valencia High, the proof was in the poundage.

After the Sailors answered an overtime-opening touchdown and conversion kick by the Golden Hawks with an 8-yard scoring pass from Tom Jackson to fullback Jack Tracy, Brinkley merely followed his own script.

“My play chart for two-point conversion said run the freeze play [a hard count meant to draw an encroachment penalty],” Brinkley said. “If we got the penalty, then I wanted to run 36 power [off right tackle]. If we didn’t get the penalty, we call timeout and probably run something play-action.”

The plan unfolded just as, well, planned, as Jackson’s staccato cadence prompted an El Dorado defensive end to jump forward into the neutral zone, which drew a penalty flag.

With the ball moved from the 3-yard line to the 1 1/2 by the penalty, Brinkley shifted 6-foot-4, 332-pound left tackle Charles Schultz to the right side of the line. Schultz lined up next to 259-pound guard Billy Munce. With Schultz and Munce creating a hole, aided by a pair of blockers from the full-house backfield alignment, Rippon ran through an arm tackle and into the end zone.

The decision to go for two was also spurred by a missed PAT and another 21-yard field-goal try by Newport Harbor midway through the fourth quarter. Both kicks were wide left.

The win moves Newport Harbor (7-4) into the quarterfinals, where it will play host to No. 3-seeded Charter Oak (8-3) Friday night.

Charter Oak defeated Bellflower, 14-7, Friday.

“We had to go for two and the win,” said Schultz, who said he and Munce got a good push on the decisive two-point run.

“I was way pumped,” Munce said. “I had all that adrenaline going and I was ready to get those two points.”

The heart-stopping finish, the fourth Sailors’ game this season decided by late dramatics, helped the Sailors survive a comeback by the Century League champions.

The Golden Hawks (6-5), who have now lost eight straight first-round playoff games -- including three to the Sailors -- trailed, 17-0, midway through the second quarter.

El Dorado scored on the second play of the fourth quarter to pull within 24-21, then tied it with a 32-yard Cody Hilgenberg field goal with 2:02 left in regulation.

Both teams had the ball in the final moments of regulation, but could mount nothing. Newport Harbor’s Keith Eldridge made a leaping interception at his 20-yard line with 43 seconds left to end El Dorado’s final possession in regulation.

El Dorado, led by Craig Leyton’s 244 rushing yards and three touchdowns, needed four plays to get on the board in overtime.

Quarterback Raymond Contreras hit Matt Cardenas on a 13-yard scoring slant in overtime and Hilgenberg kicked the PAT.

Newport opened its overtime possession with a 4-yard run by Rippon, then Jackson hit James Coder for a first down to the 11.

After Rippon gained 3 yards over left tackle, Jackson rolled right and threw to Tracy, who ran through two would-be tacklers to score.

Rippon finished with 218 yards on 34 carries, while Jackson threw for 152 yards, completing 13 of 23 passes.

Rippon scored on consecutive offensive plays in the first quarter to quiet the home crowd.

After capping a 13-play, 90-yard, game-opening drive with a 6-yard touchdown run, Rippon was back on the field after David Rosales recovered an El Dorado fumble at the hosts’ 43-yard line.

Rippon immediately bolted off left tackle for the score. And a two-point conversion pass from Jackson to Billy Brown put the Tars up, 14-0.