A treasure for Jackson

two-minute drill after CIF title gameSure there were his second-half heroics, including 146 passing yards, completing 7 of 9 passes, throwing for two touchdowns and running for another. And Newport Harbor High senior quarterback Tom Jackson will surely treasure the memory of cradling the ball in “victory formation” (taking a knee after fielding the snap) as time expired in the Sailors’ 28-21 win over Valencia in the CIF Southern Section Division VI championship football game Saturday at Orange Coast College.

But what some spectators will remember most about the final moments of Jackson’s final game will be his being rocked by a helmet-to-helmet blow delivered by Valencia senior inside linebacker Jessie Camarena.

“Contrary to popular belief, my head is all right,” Jackson said with a laugh Sunday. “But it really did hurt.”

Jackson said he not only had the wind knocked out of him on the play, but he also had some, well, nasal fluid jarred loose that wound up plastered across his face.

“From what I hear, I got cracked pretty good,” Jackson said.

* Winning a CIF championship would be a big enough memory, but Newport Harbor senior tight end Nick Novotny added his own personal highlight against Valencia.

The 5-foot-10, 170-pounder, who began being used in double-tight-end sets in the regular-season finale, caught a 10-yard touchdown pass from Jackson to open the scoring with 11:33 left in the second quarter. It was not only the first catch of the season for Novotny, but the first, and last, of his varsity career.

Novotny said the play was hardly by design.

“Actually, me and the other tight end messed up,” said Novotny, who some family members have jokingly nicknamed Touchdown Novotny. “He was supposed to be on the other side [the left, where the featured route was supposed to originate]. But we didn’t want to get a penalty, so I took his route and he took mine.”

So, instead of being in front of the coverage near the goal line, Novotny was behind the defense in the end zone when Jackson flipped him the ball.

“It worked out,” said Novotny, who noted an unusual number of strangers congratulating him on the field after the game.

“That was weird,” he said.

* When senior safety James Coder intercepted a Valencia pass to seal the victory with 51 seconds remaining, Newport Harbor players erupted into spontaneous joyous celebrations on the sidelines as the Newport Harbor fans in the stands roared.

But while teammates around him jumped and hugged one another, junior defensive end Mike Calabrese, battling severe cramps in both hamstrings and calves, was precluded from joining in the celebration.

Instead, Calabrese was sprawled on the Sailors sideline, clutching his aching legs and trying to mix a beaming smile in between grimaces brought on by his contracted muscles.

* Coder said senior tailback Ryan Rippon, the team’s inspirational leader, took to using allegorical quotes in his pregame talks with the team in the playoffs. The tales were meant to inspire the players against their latest opponent.

Before the Tars’ 28-0 semifinal win against Tustin, which ran a maniacally monotonous ground attack out of its double wing offense, Coder said Rippon related a tale of a sculptor who had hammer away 1,000 times at a formless block, before it finally began to crumble on the 1,001th blow.

Coder said that described the task of hammering away at Tustin’s physical offensive and defensive schemes, before the Tillers finally cracked.

Against Valencia, Rippon used a boxing analogy, equating the title game to the final round of a boxer’s career.

“For us,” Coder said, “our last round was the second half.”

* Newport Harbor’s senior players met Monday to discuss the design of their CIF championship rings.

Jackson, when asked if a team slogan would be engraved on the rings, said he’d have to ponder the question for a while.

Roughly an hour later, Jackson suggested “Bend But Don’t Break,” a reference to the Sailors’ steadfast refusal to relent to adversity all season.

* While the Sailors went through pregame warmups, several mothers and other relatives and supporters of Newport Harbor players were also getting their game faces on.

Several rooters had their favorite player’s jersey number written in felt pen on their cheek.

* Newport players later said it was their ability to relax and embrace the big-game atmosphere that helped them erase a 14-7 halftime deficit.

But those paying close attention detected a bad omen for Valencia fortunes just before the second-half kickoff.

Just as the Tigers’ players began sprinting toward the paper spirit banner teams traditionally run through on the way to their bench, the cheerleaders holding the banner lost their grip, allowing it to fall. Rather than continue over the banner, the Valencia players shuffled to an abrupt halt about 15 yards away from the banner. The cheerleaders quickly repositioned the banner and the players then ran through it as usual. But some might suggest that having to stop, then start again before running though the banner may have messed with their mojo.