Sailors nab big victory

NEWPORT BEACH — Until this month, Cedric Whitaker said he hadn’t played a football game in four years.

Two games into his first season at Newport Harbor High, Whitaker is making it look easy.

If you haven’t heard of No. 28, the junior transfer from San Francisco made a name for himself Thursday night.

In his home debut, Whitaker rushed for 140 yards and scored three touchdowns, including an electrifying 94-yard kickoff return that swung the momentum and allowed Newport Harbor to upset Loyola, 28-14, in a nonleague game.

Instead of going into the final quarter with a seven-point lead, Whitaker put the Sailors back in control.

Newport Harbor (2-0) appeared to lose the momentum late in the third quarter when Whitaker fumbled. On the following play, Loyola cut the deficit to seven points with 61 seconds left in the quarter.

Fifteen seconds later, Whitaker made up for the gaffe.

He delivered the deafening blow, knocking out the No. 10th-ranked team in the CIF Southern Section Pac-5 Division. Loyola (1-2) kicked his way.

A little communication by Whitaker and his fellow kick returner Cecil Whiteside helped. Whitaker yelled at Whiteside, “Switch it up! Let me get on that side!”

The two changed spots and Whitaker got his hands on the kick at the six. He exploded up the field, eluding tacklers before displaying a move unseen at Davidson Field.

At midfield, Whitaker spun away from multiple defenders and raced in for a 94-yard score, giving the Sailors a 28-14 lead.

“That was my job to get it back,” Whitaker said of redeeming himself.

“I’m just now getting back, getting good. I’ve been practicing, just trying to get my weight up. I’m not that big.”

The 5-foot-8, 160-pounder is sure hard to tackle. Whitaker showed his elusiveness, finishing with 248 total yards.

So far this year he has scored five touchdowns, three rushing, one on special teams and one on a fumble recovery.

For someone recovering from a fractured shoulder, Whitaker can handle the workload. Twenty times against Loyola he carried the ball, finishing with half of the team’s rushes.

Whitaker impressed Newport Harbor Coach Jeff Brinkley, who started the speedster for the first time. Brinkley is now two wins away from claiming his 200th career victory at Newport Harbor.

“He’s just figuring this out,” said Brinkley, who’s in his 24th year. “Believe me, he’ll keep getting better every week.”

There was a big-name coach at the game.

UCLA Coach Rick Neuheisel attended his son Jerry’s game. Jerry is the starting quarterback at Loyola. There was a family tie, Rick’s nephew, Blake Bell, is a sophomore quarterback at Newport Harbor.

That’s where the family affair ended. An outsider by the name of Whitaker split it up by taking the first play from scrimmage 46 yards to Loyola’s six.

Whitaker had to wait until the second half last week to carry the ball. He scored on his first carry in the opener.

It took him two carries Thursday. Whitaker punched it in, pushing the ball forward for the touchdown. Sixty-eight seconds into the game, the Sailors took a 7-0 lead.

By the time Neuheisel arrived to the game late in the first half, his son and the Cubs trailed, 14-0. Neuheisel already lost the recruitment battle for Whiteside to UC Berkeley, and he was about to lose Jerry for the game late in the third quarter.

The junior fumbled and eventually recovered, only to smack heads with a defender on the ground. For the second straight week, Loyola Coach Jeff Kearin saw another leader leave the field hurt.

Last week, Anthony Barr, a 6-4, 230-pound senior running back, broke his ankle.

“It’s hard,” said Kearin, who decided with Barr lost for the season to give Jared Baker 17 carries.

No other running back carried the ball for Loyola.

Who could possibly match Whitaker’s performance?

Newport Harbor 28, Loyola 14

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Loyola 0-0-14-0--24

Newport 14-0-14-0--28

FIRST QUARTER

NH – Whitaker 6 run (Freiberg kick), 10:52.

NH – Gomez 2 run (Freiberg kick), 0:25.

THIRD QUARTER

NH – Whitaker 25 run (Freiberg kick), 2:31.

L – Rosenberg 24 pass from Neuheisel (Bunkhall kick), 2:31.

L – Whitfield 22 pass from Neuheisel (Bunkhall kick), 1:01.

NH – Whitaker 94 kickoff return (Freiberg kick), 0:46.

INDIVIDUAL RUSHING

L – Baker, 17-104; Develle, 2-6; Neuheisel, 3-minus 1.

NH – Whitaker, 20-140, 2 TDs; Diller, 10-57; Andrews, 4-9; Rios, 3-8; Gomez, 3-12, 1 TD.

INDIVIDUAL PASSING

L – Neuheisel, 7-19-1, 78, 2 TDs; Develle, 3-9-0, 10.

NH – Rios, 14-21-1, 138.

INDIVIDUAL RECEIVING

L – Whitfield, 2-28, 1 TD; Rosenberg, 1-24, 1 TD; Fennessy, 1-13; Robinson, 3-11; Bellamy, 2-9; Young, 1-3.

NH – Whiteside, 6-51; Yokoyama, 3-33; Andrews, 1-20; Iverson, 2-14; Whitaker, 1-14; Gomez, 1-6.