Sailors remain on fringe

NEWPORT BEACH — Coach Jeff Brinkley’s smile was a little less ebullient and the players’ celebration a tad muted for the Newport Harbor High football team after its 25-16 Sunset League victory over visiting Marina Friday night.

The Sailors, after all, are more used to playing for championships than fighting for their postseason lives — or even worse, playing out the string.

But while the hard-fought triumph upped the Sailors’ record to 5-4, 2-2 in league, they remain in fourth place, one spot behind in the race for the league’s three guaranteed CIF Southern Section Pac-5 Division playoff berths.

And the scenarios that would allow Newport Harbor to avert its first postseason absence since 1998 are growing scarce.

Newport Harbor must defeat fifth-place Fountain Valley in the regular-season finale Friday, and hope Marina (1-8, 0-4), which has not won a league game since 2004, can knock off Esperanza Friday for the Tars to have any hope at all.

In that case, Newport would join Esperanza and the loser of Thursday’s Los Alamitos-Edison clash in a three-way tie for second place. League tiebreakers would decide which two teams would get the league’s second- and third-place playoff berths.

If Newport Harbor were to come out last in the tiebreaker, a 6-4 record that includes nonleague losses to Corona del Mar and Dana Hills, would likely not impress those granting the division’s lone at-large berth.

The Sailors did what they needed to do to keep hope alive Friday, rolling to a 12-0 lead, then holding off a scrappy Vikings squad that Brinkley praised for not mailing in its performance.

“They made it tough on us, and they didn’t give up,” Brinkley said of a Marina program against which the Sailors are 10-1-1 in their last 12 meetings.

The Sailors’ defense, however, made it tough for the Vikings to enjoy much success.

With senior tackle Mike Calabrese breezing past would-be blockers, outside linebacker Brandon Kula blitzing off the corner, end Bryce Jardine winning his one-on-one battle and middle linebacker Nick Frazier battering any ballcarrier in his general vicinity, the hosts held Marina to minus-five yards in the first half.

Marina finished with 24 rushing yards on 32 attempts, as the Sailors sacked quarterback Josh Jordan six times for 45 yards in losses. Half of the Vikings’ running plays ended in a loss or no gain, while three others produced just one yard.

Frazier, who kicked a pair of 36-yard field goals to give the Sailors a 6-0 first-quarter advantage, intercepted a pass at his own 11-yard line to help the Sailors turn the Vikings away with a tenuous 18-9 lead early in the fourth quarter.

Jarrett Daniel, who blocked a conversion kick to keep the Tars’ lead at 12-9 midway through the third quarter, helped seal the win with a 48-yard punt return to the Marina four.

Two plays later, Stephen Peterson scored on a quarterback sneak and Frazier added the PAT for a 25-9 cushion with 7:38 left in the game.

Newport held on fourth-and-inches from its own 31 with 4:31 left, which rendered Marina’s hurry-up touchdown with 23 seconds remaining mere window dressing.

The Sailors moved the ball better on the ground than they had in its last two games — losses to Los Alamitos and Edision.

Sophmore tailback Michael Helfrich finished with 120 yards on 22 carries, including back-to-back bursts of 29 and 30 yards to spark a five-play, 80-yard touchdown drive midway through the third quarter.

Newport senior quarterback Kevin Williams threw for a pair of touchdowns, including a 32-yard strike to tight end Dusty Campbell on a play-action bootleg early in the second quarter that upped the lead to 12-0.

Williams, who completed seven of 14 attemps for 92 yards, found Brice Stillman for a 20-yard scoring toss with 6:30 left in the third quarter. Williams took a helmet on the chin just after he delivered the pass, however, and was sidelined the rest of the game with what Brinkley later called a balky jaw.

Daniel collected 89 yards on four punt returns.

Calabrese and Kula each had a pair of sacks, while Jardine and senior noseguard Charles Vickery added to the procession into the Marina pocket with sacks.

Jordan had 119 passing yards, but had a combined minus-15 yards on his 14 rushing attempts.

“It was sloppy, but a win’s a win,” said Brinkley, whose team committed four turnovers and was burned for a 93-yard kickoff return that led to a field goal.