Sailors’ Tracy carries full load

Back at fullback after filling in at tailback, Newport Harbor senior happy to be leading the way into CIF title game.Jack Tracy charged reluctantly into the spotlight this season for the Newport Harbor High football team, often dragging tacklers along for the ride.

But there was another burden the 6-foot-1, 220-pound senior carried -- the reason he was required to shift from fullback to workhorse tailback -- that sapped most of the joy out of his high-profile heroics.

Tracy, a starter at fullback as a junior, had planned on plodding through another season along the periphery. Having been granted only seven carries in the Tars’ 14-game season in 2004, he knew full well that colliding with defenders, not avoiding them, would fulfill the responsibilities Coach Jeff Brinkley annually assigns to the offense’s “glorified guard.”

But when senior tailback Ryan Rippon, Tracy’s best friend, was felled by a torn left anterior cruciate ligament late in the summer, the role of go-to ballcarrier quickly fell on Tracy’s shoulders.

And although he responded on the field, rushing for 481 yards in five nonleague games, four of which he started at tailback, Tracy was in no mood to celebrate his newly earned celebrity.

“[Rippon’s injury] was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to deal with,” Tracy said. “After everything we’d done together to prepare for our senior season, I felt like our dream had been shattered.”

Tracy said Rippon’s absence -- he missed the first four games while recovering from a revolutionary reconstructive surgical procedure -- made him question his own desire to continue.

“There’s nothing I like more than blocking for Ryan,” Tracy said. “We’re the best of friends and I love that kid. There were times I thought that if he couldn’t play, I didn’t want to play, either.”

But play Tracy did, helping the Sailors forge a 3-0 start before they were defeated by Dana Hills and Mira Costa.

Rippon, however, came off the bench to gain 107 yards in the 23-20 overtime loss to Mira Costa. And Tracy has been back at fullback ever since.

With its backfield in proper alignment, the Sailors (10-3) won a share of the Sea View League championship and have advanced to the CIF Southern Section Division VI title game. The Tars meet Valencia (12-1), at 7 p.m. Saturday at Orange Coast College.

“I don’t care if I get zero carries,” said Tracy, who has rushed for 760 yards and five touchdowns and has 126 yards and four touchdowns on 11 receptions this season. “I’m happy to do what I have to do to contribute.”

Brinkley said Tracy’s contribution has been noteworthy.

“When he stepped in at tailback, he carried the ball and did a great job,” Brinkley said. “And he catches the ball well out of the backfield, so we like to throw it to him. He’s a load when he gets moving and, when you watch him on film, he usually makes the first guy miss.”

But Brinkley said Tracy’s most valuable role is as a lead blocker.

“Our fullbacks have to be unselfish and realize they are basically a blocker,” Brinkley said. “[Tracy] is another in the long line of guys we’ve had who have done a great job.”

With Tracy consistently leading Rippon through holes, Rippon has amassed 1,628 rushing yards.

One of the team’s captains, Tracy has also chipped in at linebacker. He started in the Sailors’ five-linebacker alignment that helped lead to a 28-0 semifinal win over Tustin and has 28 tackles this season.

Tracy has grown six inches and added 65 pounds since his freshman year and he is among several Sailors who have excelled in the weight room.

“I wasn’t very good my freshman year,” Tracy said. “But I found I enjoyed lifting and that kept me going.”

Tracy hopes to help lift Newport Harbor to its third Southern Section crown Saturday night.20051209ir7hzdknCOURTENAY NEARBURG / DAILY PILOT(LA)Newport Harbor fullback Jack Tracy stands out this season as one of the main reasons for the Sailors’ success. 20051209inb26dncMARK DUSTIN / DAILY PILOT(LA)Newport Harbor’s Jack Tracy (32) took over the main rushing duties when Ryan Rippon was injured.