MINI BATTLE OF THE BAY:

CORONA DEL MAR — As the game went on, the plan for the Newport Harbor High freshman football team appeared to become simpler and simpler.

The Sailors handed the ball to No. 1 and got out of the way.

No. 1 for Newport Harbor was Drew Diller, who rushed for 214 yards and all five Tars touchdowns as the Sailors beat Back Bay rival Corona del Mar, 38-19, on Thursday at Corona del Mar High.

And after the Battle of the Bay was over, Sailors frosh Coach Joe Urban offered plenty of praise for the 6-foot, 170-pound Diller.

“He reminded me of one of my favorite all-time great Newport players, Chris Manderino,” said Urban, whose team beat its rival for the third consecutive year. “That’s really the highest compliment I can give a Newport freshman football player.”

Manderino, a start tailback and linebacker for the Tars, went on to star at Cal and is now on the Cincinnati Bengals practice squad.

“I mean, [Diller’s] just a hard-nosed football player, and he’s a leader and a good kid,” Urban said.

Urban also said he wanted Newport Harbor (2-1) to establish the run after struggling to do so in last week’s loss to Long Beach Poly. But it wasn’t going to be easy against a spirited effort from Corona del Mar (1-2-1).

The Sea Kings took a 7-6 lead after a quarter, when Jeff Condino scored from 15 yards out on a play where he bounded outside.

Newport Harbor took a 22-7 lead early in the third quarter on Diller’s third score, as he ran behind steady offensive linemen like JB Salem, Ryan Hatcher, Abner Jiminez, Charles Coakley and Chase Salazar. But CdM rallied.

Max Satossky took the ensuing kickoff back 85 yards for a Sea Kings touchdown.

“I told Satossky at halftime, ‘Get in the end zone,’ ” CdM Coach Gary Almquist said. “He looked at me, and I said ‘Get in the end zone.’ And you know what? They kicked off, he got the ball and got in the end zone.”

Then, later in the quarter, CdM’s Chris Freeman blocked a punt, grabbed the ball and ran it in for a score. That cut the Sailors’ lead to 22-19. But in the end, it was too much Diller.

“This game is an epic battle and it makes football fun,” Almquist said. “[CdM offensive coordinator] Jeff Brown and [defensive coordinator] Bucky Gillette do an excellent job to prepare our team. Newport just flat-out outplayed us today ... but this is why we play the game.”

Parker Norton had a pair of interceptions for the Sailors.

For the Sea Kings, Brandon Janaman also had an interception, and Wilbert Marquez was a force on the defensive line.

MATT SZABO may be reached at (714) 966-4614 or by e-mail at matthew.szabo@latimes.com.

FIRST QUARTER

CdM – Condino 15 run (Baihm kick), 4:55.

NH – Diller 4 run (run failed), 0:00.

SECOND QUARTER

NH – Diller 6 run (Norton pass from Rios), 2:40.

THIRD QUARTER

NH – Diller 1 run (Diller run), 5:56.

CdM – Satossky 85 kickoff return (pass failed), 5:41.

CdM – Freeman 10 blocked punt return (kick failed), 0:36.

FOURTH QUARTER

NH – Diller 3 run (Poldrugo pass from Rios), 6:19.

NH – Diller 5 run (Diller run), 3:09.

INDIVIDUAL RUSHING

NH – Diller, 29-214, 5 TDs; Andrews, 5-35; Van Bergh, 4-13; Poldrugo, 1-1; Rios, 5-minus-16.

CdM – Condino, 12-68, 1 TD; Bergendahl, 9-43; Gray, 2-17; Satossky, 2-1; Gardner, 2-minus-3.

INDIVIDUAL PASSING

NH – Rios, 4-10-2, 49.

CdM – Gardner, 6-14-2, 35; Cashion, 2-7-0, 8.

INDIVIDUAL RECEIVING

NH – Cornwell, 1-25; Norton, 3-24.

CdM – Morrow, 4-28; Griffin, 2-19; Gray, 1-1; Condino, 1-minus-5.