Sailors get defensive

NEWPORT BEACH — High-flying acts met on the football field Friday night, Newport Harbor High and Fountain Valley came in scoring points in bunches.

But none showed much in the Sunset League opener, on the ground or through the air.

JB Green got up once. On an end around, the speedster scored from 10 yards out, but he almost found himself in the sand pit, where triple jumpers and high jumpers leap.

Green indeed went airborne, but not by his own doing. A late hit forced the referee to throw a flag, something the Barons saw much of and the Sailors took advantage of penalties and turnovers to win 27-7 at Davidson Field.

“One week offensively you might play great, like we did last week [in a 39-30 win over Mira Costa],” said Brinkley, who knows his Sailors are in for a tougher game next week at Esperanza (6-0), which is looking for revenge after losing to Newport Harbor last year. “This week we played great defensively.”

Two of the seven turnovers forced by Newport Harbor (5-1, 1-0) went for scores. Two by two players Coach Jeff Brinkley was just delighted to see on the field again after injuries knocked them out of the previous two games.

Fountain Valley (4-2, 0-1) knew a lot of one of the two, safety Michael Helfrich. The other, middle linebacker Cecil Whiteside, back from a biceps injury, made sure the Barons wouldn’t forget him. He recovered a fumble in the end zone in the third quarter to put it away with Newport Harbor up, 20-0, a sign that maybe these Sailors are ready for league juggernauts Edison, Esperanza and Los Alamitos and a return to the postseason after missing it last year.

But more importantly the sophomore played a key role in stopping speedy running back Kyle Middlebrooks, who finished with a season-low 34 yards on 14 carries. Another contributor, linebacker Nick Svendsen, left the game in the third with what looked to be a serious right knee injury as he was helped off the field.

Helfrich, held out of the last three quarters of last week’s game after suffering a shoulder injury, didn’t shy away from loose balls. Out of the five fumbles recovered, Helfrich picked up one. It was on the 11 after Fountain Valley’s punter lost the snap and Helfrich grabbed the ball and scored to give the game life, the first points at 7 minutes, 38 seconds in the first quarter.

Helfrich, knowing he wouldn’t run the ball much with Ben Frazier back from a knee injury, longed to contribute anyway, at safety or special teams. The last time he saw Fountain Valley was last year, when he ran through them like a team ripping apart one of those huge posters before the game. The carries wouldn’t be there for another 281-yard, three-touchdown performance. But he managed to score one rushing touchdown with Frazier sitting in the fourth.

After Helfrich’s fumble return, he intercepted shifty quarterback Bryse Blake. The Sailors didn’t have much to show at that point offensively, just two first downs gained by the time Newport Harbor touched the ball with 3:42 left before halftime.

Helfrich picked it off at the 31, returning it to Fountain Valley’s 45. Another injured player, Frazier rumbled through the defense. Five, one and nine yard gains, and when the Barons finally stuffed the senior for a two-yard loss on the 10, the Sailors went to their speedster, Green.

He took the handoff, racing to the left and finding the end zone before a defender hit him, committing one of Fountain Valley’s seven penalties in the first half.

Green bounced back up. The same can’t be said for the Barons. When the penalties weren’t pushing the offense back in the first half, Newport Harbor’s defense sacked Blake three times, and they knocked him out of the game midway through the third quarter. The last two sacks were by defensive end Brandon Davis at a time the Barons sat on the Sailors’ 22 trying to salvage something.

Blake isn’t used to seeing his offense stumble as it averaged 41.2 points per game before Friday. But Davis dropped Blake after the center snapped it high to Blake in shotgun. After recovering, Davis wrapped up Blake for a 16-yard loss. Eight seconds left and there again was Davis hunting Blake from behind like a bounty hunter.

“Our goal was to contain their running back and force him not to run outside,” said Whiteside of Middlebrooks, who came into the game averaging 7.8 yards per carry. “I was a little nervous in the beginning, but it went away.”

Stopping the Barons sure helped shake the nerves.

DAVID CARRILLO PEÑALOZA may be reached at (714) 966-4612 or at david.carrillo@latimes.com.

SECOND QUARTER

NH – Helfrich 11 fumble return (Freiberg kick), 7:47.

NH – Green 10 run (kick failed), 1:09.

THIRD QUARTER

NH – Whiteside recovers fumble in end zone (Freiberg kick), 5:38.

FOURTH QUARTER

NH – Helfrich 15 run (Freiberg kick), 8:57.

FV – Manzon 11 pass from Santana (Freleaux kick), 6:27.

INDIVIDUAL RUSHING

FV – Blake,14-38; Middlebrooks, 14-38; Santana, 3-10; Castellon, 2-6; Garcia, 1-3; Freleaux 1-minus 15.

NH – Frazier, 17-45; Helfrich, 7-23, 1 TD; Green, 1-10, 1 TD; McDonald, 3-minus 11; team, 1-minus 2.

INDIVIDUAL PASSING

FV – Blake, 8-13-1, 88; Santana 10-24-1, 116, 1 TD.

NH – McDonald, 4-6-0, 80.

INDIVIDUAL RECEIVING

FV – Manzon, 5-51, 1 TD; Middlebrooks, 3-51; Mosley, 3-42; James, 3-26; Gerardi, 3-20; Garcia, 1-14.

NH – Campbell, 1-45; Green, 2-26; Pyle, 1-9.