Unbeaten rivals clash tonight

Before coaching a football game this season, Newport Harbor High’s Jeff Brinkley went over the nonleague portion of the schedule.

In his eyes, each of the five games looked big. One stood out, the site more than the opponent in Corona del Mar.

That contest has arrived. The Sailors and Sea Kings share Davidson Field, which is located on Newport Harbor’s campus. They won’t be playing there tonight.

The Sea Kings moved their home game to Orange Coast College to gain a home-field edge in the 48th edition of the Battle of the Bay that starts at 7:30.

Back in August, the decision still surprised Brinkley.

“One of the main reasons it could’ve been on Friday night here [at Newport Harbor],” Brinkley said in August. “It’s just a big game in the community and [for] the student body. It just makes it tough on a Thursday night.

“For the student body to go out to a game on Thursday night and then [students] got to come back to school the next morning, and when our stadium is sitting idle that night, it just seemed we could’ve played it here.”

Instead, a battle between two unbeaten Back Bay rivals is on CdM’s second home field in Costa Mesa.

Things might not be so even for the Sea Kings (3-0), ranked No. 2 in the CIF Southern Section Southern Division poll.

The flu bug has hit three starters and CdM second-year coach Jason Hitchens said he expects two of those players to miss the big game.

“I’d rather not say who they are,” Hitchens said of the ill players. “It will be easy to see who they are if they’re not out there on the field.

“We knew coming into the season this would be our toughest challenge probably for the entire course of the season.”

A day before the game, Brinkley still preferred to play the nonleague game at Newport Harbor.

He’s not worried about his Sailors (2-0).

“It’s not that big of a deal,” said Brinkley, adding his Sailors have played at OCC in recent years against CdM and Edison. “We’ll play anyone on any field.”

In his 24th year at Newport Harbor, Brinkley hasn’t shied away from facing the best.

Brinkley has won 198 games as the coach of the Sailors. A win tonight and he is one away from a coaching milestone.

The way the Battle of the Bay series has gone the previous 10 years, the 56-year-old is close to joining seven other Orange County coaches to have recorded 200 wins.

The Sea Kings’ plan to make the longtime coach wait a little bit longer will be difficult without three starters.

CdM has won once in the last 10 meetings against Newport Harbor. Last year’s contest, the Sea Kings led after the Sailors uncharacteristically allowed a touchdown on the opening kickoff.

The Sailors owned the rest of the game as they have the series, beating visiting CdM, 42-13, in front of an overflowing crowd of 5,000.

Going into tonight, Newport Harbor is 34-13 in the rivalry game. The defense has slowed down CdM in the previous two games, giving up an average of 10 points.

The key to CdM’s early success this season is due to the emergence of quarterback Michael Borchard and a strong ground game from J.D. Abbott. Hitchens would not comment if those two seniors came down with the flu.

Borchard has combined for 10 touchdowns. Abbott, who missed last year’s Battle of the Bay due to a mild concussion, has rushed for 413 yards and five touchdowns. The Sea Kings are averaging 42 points per game.

Defensively, the Sailors are at their best with UC Berkeley-bound linebacker Cecil Whiteside and linemen Zack Moghaddam and JB Salem. The defense hasn’t allowed an opponent to score more than 40 points since Nov. 8, 2007, when Edison beat Newport Harbor, 47-0.

Brinkley isn’t expecting a high-scoring affair. His Sailors are coming off an impressive 28-14 home victory against Loyola of Los Angeles, ranked No. 10 in the Pac-5 Division last week.

The Sailors aren’t returning to Davidson Field tonight, but there are two bonuses for playing tonight instead of Friday.

CdM’s sick players don’t get an extra day to recover from the flu. Brinkley offered the second one.

“We played last Thursday, so we aren’t on a short week,” said Brinkley, who is fully aware CdM competed last Thursday as well.

Even with the game at OCC, the two rivals don’t appear to be on a level playing field.