Poly on their minds

NEWPORT BEACH — Andrew McDonald remembers the scene all too well. It replayed for him, in a sense, in the CIF playoffs. But now he’s not thinking about Long Beach Poly. Well, not about the past anyway.

The Newport Harbor High quarterback and the rest of the Sailors know Poly is on this fall’s schedule, but apparently that’s a good thing.

“I think it’s going to be fun [against Poly],” said McDonald who was sacked eight times in a 34-7 loss to the Jackrabbits last September and saw his season end to Poly, 35-14, in the CIF Southern Section Pac-5 Division quarterfinals in November. “I’d rather play a really though team than an easy team. Tougher competition always makes you better. It’s always fun going against a good program like that. They’re really tough.”

The Jackrabbits, the 2007 Pac-5 champs, will play host to the Sailors Sept. 19 at Veterans Stadium in Long Beach. Harbor believes playing against an elite program like Poly will only help its chances in the Pac-5 Division and the rough Sunset League.

This will be the Sailors third year in the Pac-5 and the Sunset. They missed the playoffs in 2006 and played for the league title last fall. But they fell way short in the game for the Sunset League title, suffering their worst loss in 40 years, losing, 47-0, to Edison.

However, Harbor, which finished 8-4 last year, bounced back in a big way in the playoffs with an emotional victory at Notre Dame of Sherman Oaks. And, games against Poly will only help the program, the Sailors contend.

“When [the CIF Southern Section] put us in [the Pac-5], we knew we had to figure out how to compete on that level,” Newport Harbor Coach Jeff Brinkley said. “There’s probably not a better team that’s had more success than Poly, so you might as well see what it takes to compete with those guys then you get a pretty good measurement for yourself.”

Brinkley is not sure how many more seasons his Sailors will play against the Jackrabbits.

“There’s one more that I know of and that’s this year, and we’ll figure it out after that,” said Brinkley, who would like to continue to play against Poly.

McDonald is certainly excited about the Jackrabbits. Actually, he’s anxious about the season in general. He said he feels stronger, having gained close to 25 pounds. He started last year around 155 pounds, and he said he’s nearly at 180.

Plus he has stayed away from injuries for the first time during the offseason, which has helped him train without any distractions, he said.

“With me I feel a lot more comfortable,” said McDonald, who will be a senior. “I feel confident. My arm got a lot stronger since last year. Our guys are a lot stronger. We have JB [Green] coming back, we have Cecil [Whiteside]. We have three lineman coming back, so I feel real comfortable with our offense. Our line has been working real hard.

“We’re all getting real strong in the weight room. I think we’re going to be pretty tough to beat.”

Whiteside, fresh off reaching the CIF State Track and Field Championships in the discus, has been practicing with the Sailors this week. On Tuesday, he lined up at receiver and tight end while the Sailors worked on down-and-distance situations.

But, the junior-to-be will be expected to be a leader on defense. The Newport-Mesa Defensive Player of the Year won’t be short of help. There will be five returners from the starting defense, including fellow linebackers Brandon Kula and Nick Svendsen. Both will be seniors.

Green, as well as Danny Miller and Michael Helfrich, who will all be seniors playing as defensive backs, have been pumping iron and preparing this spring by studying up on future opponents.

The seniors, projected to be at 22 this fall, have put pressure on themselves to win this year.

“Everyone feels like this is our last chance to go out there and win a league championship,” McDonald said. “I feel like there’s more sense of urgency. We always come out and compete every day.”

STEVE VIRGEN may be reached at (714) 966-4616 or by e-mail at steve.virgen@latimes.com.