DAILY PILOT HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL PLAYER OF THE WEEK:

There is a blue T-shirt every defensive player at Newport Harbor High wants.

You can’t buy it on campus.

You can’t ask a coach for it.

You have to earn it on the football field.

Cecil Whiteside has with his play on a Friday night this season.

On the front, he said it reads: “Newport Football Dog Soldier.”

On the back, he said there’s a Native American word “Hotamimasaw” from the Cheyenne tribe, followed by “Loyal, Faith and Valor.”

“Crazy dogs,” Whiteside said is what Hotamimasaw means.

Whiteside is not nuts.

You might think he is for wearing the blue T-shirt on the same day two teammates did at school.

“Me, Danny [Miller] and [Greg] Gute,” Whiteside said of the matching triplets before realizing “it was kind of weird” standing next to each other.

Whiteside is not odd, either. Sure, the junior is quiet off the field. On the field, that’s a different story.

Tenacious, explosive and hungry are words teammates have used to describe Whiteside when he’s buckled his chin strap.

As an outside linebacker, his job is to devour whoever has the ball. Whiteside will try to do the same when Newport Harbor (3-1) plays a nonleague game at Manhattan Beach against Mira Costa (2-2) tonight at 7.

“I’m just a motivator,” said Whiteside, with his calming voice.

He almost lost his voice last week.

The Sailors almost lost the nonleague game to Dana Hills before holding on for a 25-24 victory.

Nothing was serene at Davidson Field.

Way before the drama unfolded at the end, with Dana Hills (2-2) missing back-to-back, game-winning field-goal attempts, this game was up-tempo.

Whiteside barely had time to catch his breath during 48 minutes of action. He started at wide receiver and special teams.

But 60 times Whiteside chased a quarterback in shotgun formation with no breaks in between snaps.

No-huddle means “crazy workout” for a defender.

Making matters worse was Dana Hills quarterback Sean Schroeder dropping back three steps and firing balls faster than a pitching machine.

He scattered balls throughout the field, hitting six receivers.

Many times, it seemed that many players went out for passes.

“It was kind of difficult,” Whiteside said of stopping the spread offense. “We weren’t getting aligned correctly and we didn’t know what to do.

“We practiced running the nickel [defense], but we switched back [in the second quarter] to what we originally do [in games].

That’s flying to the ball in the Sailors’ aggressive 3-4 defense.

To Whiteside, the linebackers are who make this defense so feared.

Whiteside and Ned Lyon are outside. Brandon Kula and Nick Svendsen are inside. The other three linebackers are seniors.

Whiteside’s responsibility was to contain Schroeder from moving to his left.

When Dana Hills began a comeback late in the third quarter, scoring on a rushing touchdown in between two Schroeder touchdowns passes, the Sailors looked like they were about to trail for the first time.

They were up, 25-24, with 5:51 left in the game. Whiteside delivered one of the game’s best plays when Newport Harbor needed him.

Dana Hills elected to go for a two-point conversion after its kicker missed two extra points earlier.

All week leading up the game, defensive coordinator Tony Ciarelli prepared Whiteside for what ensued.

“He’s going to run this play once or twice because the quarterback is left-handed,” Ciarelli told Whiteside. “I was just waiting.”

Whiteside didn’t just wait. He attacked Schroeder, who ran a naked play to the left on the two-point attempt.

Whiteside’s pressure forced the Duke-bound senior to throw an ill-advised pass into the end zone. Newport Harbor senior Michael Helfrich picked off the pass.

For a moment, the Sailors dodged a bullet.

The way Whiteside saw it, this was a breather.

Not for long.

On the second to last possession for Dana Hills, Whiteside came through again with the Dolphins on Newport Harbor’s 35.

Whiteside crushed Schroeder for a nine-yard loss. Helping Whiteside slip through was defensive tackle JB Salem going at the tackle then rubbing off to the guard.

“I was already going full speed,” Whiteside said. “The tackle couldn’t adjust and get to me.”

The next play, Whiteside again got to Schroeder, tripping him up for a one-yard loss.

Faced with a third-and-18 on the 45, the Sailors weren’t about to give up a first down in the next two plays. They didn’t as Dana Hills turned the ball over with 88 seconds left.

Dana Hills still got one more chance with a minute remaining after the Sailors went three-and-out and punted.

What transpired at the end was bizarre.

With one second left, Dana Hills missed a 40-yard field-goal attempt.

Whiteside thought the game was over. Almost everyone did in the Newport Harbor stands, as many of its fans ran onto the field to celebrate.

But a running-into-the-kicker penalty gave the Dolphins one more chance to upset the Sailors.

Another miss, this time from 35 yards out.

“That was crazy,” said Whiteside, who knows what the translation for “crazy dogs” is in Cheyenne, but is looking for “crazy game.”

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