Sunday kind to Sage Hill, but not for others

The realization came Sunday, when some teams began preparation for their opponent in the playoffs, while others reviewed the season and attempted to attain hope for next year. Such is the landscape of high school football at this time of the year.

It was no different in the Newport-Mesa area, where Corona del Mar High, Estancia and Sage Hill School are in the CIF Southern Section playoffs.

Estancia appears to have momentum coming off a 49-12 win over Calvary Chapel. Sage is doing its best to take the positives from a 42-21 loss to Academy League champion St. Margaret’s. CdM (6-4, 2-2 in the Pacific Coast League) took advantage of a much-needed week off. Newport Harbor ended its season on a high note — a 35-14 win over Fountain Valley — yet missed the playoffs for the first time in seven years. And, Costa Mesa took its bumps in a game that could have gave it a share of the Orange Coast League title. Instead, the Mustangs lost, 22-7, to Laguna Beach ending their season.

Here’s a breakdown of last week:

“We’re disappointed we’re not in the playoffs,” said Brinkley, whose team finished 6-4, 3-2 in the Sunset League. “The program has high expectations. I feel sorry for our seniors. It’s a disappointing deal.”

Brinkley said there is much hope for the future with Brandon Kula, J.B. Green, Cecil Whiteside, Michael Helfrich, Ben Frazier, Dusty Campbell, Nate Castillo and Jerry Whitney coming back. Kula, Green and Helfrich will be juniors next season, Whiteside will be a sophomore, and the rest will be seniors.

Mustangs Coach Jeremy Osso is trying to provide stability to Mesa’s program. During the offseason, one of his chores will be simple. He just needs to return. Osso is Mesa’s fourth coach in as many years. He plans to come back.

“That in itself is something,” Osso said. “More than anything I could have done is just for me to come back so I can build some stability and get people to buy into the program.

The Mustangs, who twice came away empty at Laguna Beach’s eight-yard line Thursday, had difficulty finishing drives this year, Osso said. He added they will try to build off the positives of the season, in which they finished 3-7, 1-2 in the Orange Coast League. That includes the underclassmen coming up.

Costa Mesa’s freshman team, which started the season 0-3, won the Orange Coast League championship.

“This year after playing St. Margaret’s we saw that they out-executed us and they were opportunistic, but they didn’t manhandle us,” Sage Hill Coach Tom Monarch said.

Friday night at 7, the Lightning (6-4, 3-1 in the Academy League) will be on the road to play against Maranatha in the Northeast Division’s first round, at a site to be determined today.

“They had their best week of the year,” Barnes said. “Mike Morley had a big night. We were just clicking on all cylinders.”

The Eagles (7-3, 2-1 in league) will face CdM at Newport Harbor High Friday at 7 p.m. in the opening round of the Southern Division playoffs.