Newport Harbor flag football tops rival CdM, repeats as undefeated league champion
The Newport Harbor High girls’ flag football team had secured the win against Corona del Mar in the closing seconds Monday night.
All the Sailors had to do now was run out the clock.
“We don’t have to run a play,” Newport Harbor coach Jason Guyser yelled out to his team.
They made it clear who still runs the bay.
Senior quarterback Maia Helmar threw two touchdown passes as the Sailors earned a 19-6 victory at CdM, closing out their second straight undefeated Sunset League campaign.
Newport Harbor improved to 22-2, finishing out a 12-0 league season. The Sailors have won 21 straight games headed into the sport’s inaugural CIF Southern Section playoffs, which start next week after the section releases playoff brackets on Saturday.
The Sailors are one of the title favorites in the top division, after a very successful season last year ended with the No. 1 ranking in the country by Maxpreps.com.
“I just feel so confident with our team,” Helmar said after Monday’s win. “Obviously, that was not our best offense right there. Our coach said that was a like a ‘C’ offense, but we still dominated the game, no one had any worries. It’s so nice to feel so confident in your team that even on our bad days, we can still bring home the ‘W’ … I think that’s what sets our team apart from other teams.”
Junior Cooper Dick and sophomore Leah Showalter caught first-half touchdowns from Helmar on Monday night, as the Sailors scored on both of their first two drives and grabbed a 13-0 halftime lead over Corona del Mar.
Dick just missed on a couple of other long receptions, but she also had two interceptions to lead the defensive effort.
“Especially if you don’t make a good play on offense, it’s fun to come back on defense and make a good play,” she said. “It feels good to kill the play for them and get an interception.”
The Sailors upped their lead to 19-0 in the second half after moving Helmar to her natural position of receiver late in the contest. She made one physical catch, overcoming a penalty for tackling on CdM on the play to still bring down the grab.
“She really didn’t want me to score, I guess,” Helmar said with a laugh after the game.
On the next play, Newport Harbor freshman quarterback Scarlett Guyser found fellow freshman Skylie Cid for a 3-yard touchdown pass. Throughout the game, the speedy Cid proved elusive and made plenty of plays with her legs for the Sailors.
“We hand her the ball, and I can count on her to run down the field and beat at least two defenders or beat the whole team,” Helmar said. “It’s just amazing to have her as part of the team, and she’s only a freshman, too. She’s super-agile.”
Corona del Mar, which has been outscored by Newport Harbor by a combined 71-12 in the teams’ three meetings this season, avoided the shutout late. Senior quarterback Kayly Honig found freshman receiver Anna Sofia Dickens for a touchdown on the final play before the two-minute warning.
Athletic CdM senior quarterback Alexa Rokos was banged up in the second half after completing a pass to Dickens over the middle. She didn’t return to the game.
Additionally, CdM coach Yvonne Sturgeon said freshman receiver Mia Balabanian was battling shin splints and standout junior safety Chloe Joyce was out sick. Still, she gave credit to Newport Harbor, particularly defensively.
“They do a nice job of really taking care of that middle of the field,” Sturgeon said. “Some of those edges for us, where we could have maybe gotten some more yards, we just got a little jammed up. Hopefully, everybody gets healthy for next week and we’ll be in a good spot [for CIF].”
Freshman Addison Stern highlighted the CdM defense, getting through several times to bat down Helmar’s passes.
Corona del Mar finished third in the seven-team Sunset League, a game behind Huntington Beach.
“It’s funny, because we’re technically top 20 in the country but we’re third in our own league,” Sturgeon said. “That tells you how strong Southern California is.”
The CIF playoffs begin with first round games on Tuesday, Oct. 22 across all divisions. The CIF championship games are scheduled for Nov. 9.
Orange Lutheran is considered another strong contender in Division 1. The Sailors lost 28-12 to the Lancers in a tournament in August, but consider themselves much improved since then.
“We want to face them again,” Dick said. “It was our goal to win league first, and now our next goal is to hopefully win CIF playoffs.”
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