Viles stays hot for Chargers

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NEWPORT BEACH — Five plays into the football game Friday night, Newport Harbor High wanted to turn back the clock and party like it was 1979.

Twelve plays into the game against Edison, the party looked good.

The Chargers put an end to the early jubilation and further thought of getting upset by the Sailors again 30 years later.

The top-ranked team in the CIF Southern Section Pac-5 Division took charge after giving up a touchdown and turning the ball over in the first two possessions of the Sunset League game, as Edison beat the No. 10-ranked Sailors, 34-6, at Newport Harbor.

Edison defeated another team it split the league championship with last year, improving to 7-0, 2-0 in league play. The Chargers don’t want to share with any team this year.

Quarterback Matt Viles torched Newport Harbor (4-3, 1-1) for 351 yards and three touchdowns on 27-for-42 passing. The senior completed passes to six players, four of those finished with at least five catches.

With so many weapons on offense and a fierce defense, Edison is bound to claim its first outright league crown since 1990. In each of the previous three seasons, the Chargers have shared the championship with at least one team.

The Sailors turned out to be one of those teams last year, when five in the league called themselves champions.

On a couple of plays in the first four minutes of the game Friday, Newport Harbor showed signs of a potential contender.

Running back Cedric Whitaker electrified the huge crowd on the fifth play in the game. The junior ran left, toward the visitor’s sideline before he juked a couple of would-be tacklers downfield for a 65-yard touchdown. The Sailors went ahead, 6-0, after Dillan Freiberg’s extra-point kick was blocked.

After seeing his Orange County-best streak snapped at 71 straight last week in the Sailors’ 23-20 upset of Los Alamitos, Freiberg has missed two PATs in his last two games.

The miscues continued for the Sailors for the rest of the night, ending their four-game winning streak in league dating back to last season. Newport Harbor also lost standout Cecil Whiteside for the final 11:52 of the second quarter with a stinger.

The UC Berkeley-bound senior returned in the second half and was limited to just playing linebacker.

“We didn’t do everything that we talked about,” Newport Harbor Coach Jeff Brinkley said. “We talked about not letting people get behind, not turning the ball over, making some first downs, keeping our defense off the field, playing perfect on special teams, and we didn’t do any of those things.”

The Sailors had special teams’ breakdowns. They muffed a punt inside their own 10-yard line, missed a PAT, and a long snap went over the punter’s head.

Offensively, Newport Harbor finished with 126 yards and gained only three first downs in the first three quarters. The team’s highlights of the night were Whitaker’s touchdown run, defensive lineman JB Salem’s interception in the first quarter, and a 77-yard punt by Freiberg in the second.

“That’s why they’re the No. [5] team in the state [by CalHiSports.com], and you can see why,” Brinkley said of the Chargers, who haven’t lost to Newport Harbor since 1979.

For the fourth straight year, Edison defeated the Sailors. In his 24 years at Newport Harbor, Brinkley has failed to guide his team past the Chargers.

Brinkley and Edison Coach Dave White took over their respective programs in the same year, 1986. While Brinkley enjoyed much success in the Sea View League before moving to the Sunset League in 2006, White has won seven Sunset League titles. No. 8 is right around the corner.

“Our next two games are everything,” said White, whose team plays No. 8 Los Alamitos and No. 6 Fountain Valley in the next two weeks.

The Sailors play host to Fountain Valley next week. The league game will mark the third straight against a top-10 team in the division.

“We have to regroup,” Brinkley said. “We still can get control of our own destiny in terms of the playoffs.”

Edison 34, Newport Harbor 6

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Edison 7-17-7-3--34

Newport 6-0-0-0--6

FIRST QUARTER

NH – Whitaker 65 run (kick blocked), 10:10.

E – Rivera 44 pass from Viles (Trujillo kick), 3:41.

SECOND QUARTER

E – Viles 1 run (Trujillo kick), 11:58.

E – Houston 6 pass from Viles (Trujillo kick), 8:16.

E – Trujillo 31 FG, 1:37.

THIRD QUARTER

E – Trojan 10 pass from Viles (Trujillo kick), 4:47.

FOURTH QUARTER

E – Trujillo 27 FG, 8:00.

INDIVIDUAL RUSHING

E – Houston, 9-85; Cross, 7-29; Campbell, 1-10; Orphey, 4-8; Viles, 7-5.

NH – Whitaker, 12-96, 1 TD; Gomez, 2-7; Truxton, 1-3; Rios, 5-minus 34.

INDIVIDUAL PASSING

E – Viles, 27-42-1, 351, 3 TDs.

NH – Rios, 10-14-0, 54.

INDIVIDUAL RECEIVING

E – Orphey, 6-109; Rivera, 5-78, 1 TD; Trojan, 6-75, 1 TD; Houston, 6-45, 1 TD; Eddy, 3-23; Leener, 1-21.

NH – Norton, 5-39; Turner, 1-10; Whiteside, 1-5; Iverson, 1-2; Whitaker, 2-minus 2.