Two-Minute Drill: Sailors, Oilers like a video game
One hundred points were scored in a football game at Davidson Field last Friday.
It turned out to be a first for Coach Jeff Brinkley, who’s in his 29th season at Newport Harbor. His team survived the high-scoring affair.
The Sailors opened Sunset League action with a thrilling 52-48 come-from-behind win against Huntington Beach. The result was meaningful in many ways.
Brinkley won his 260th career game, 231 of those triumphs have come as Newport Harbor’s coach. The second half turned out to be a wild ride for the 62-year-old.
Newport Harbor and Huntington Beach exploded for 69 points in the final two quarters, practically exchanging touchdowns on every drive.
The Sailors’ last score barely proved to be enough.
After quarterback Cole Norris threw his sixth touchdown, a 13-yard pass to wide receiver Keaton Cablay with 29 seconds to go, the Oilers reached the Sailors’ 17 on two pass plays, a 12- and 37-yard pickup. With 8 seconds to go, quarterback Chad James had two tries to throw a game-winning touchdown.
James’ first passed sailed out of the end zone and the next one right into Cablay’s hands in the end zone.
Cablay, a linebacker, intercepted the pass as time expired, and Newport Harbor beat Huntington Beach, the same team that spoiled the Sailors’ league title hopes and CIF Southern Section Southwest Division titles hopes last year.
“We made one play when we had to that sealed it,” Brinkley said.
Cablay came up with many passes, mostly on offense. The senior finished with a career night, 14 receptions for 177 yards and four touchdowns.
“We didn’t want to give up,” Cablay said.
— David Carrillo Peñaloza
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•The Costa Mesa High football team dominated from the beginning in its Orange Coast League opener, a 48-0 victory over Laguna Beach on Friday night at Jim Scott Stadium.
The Mustangs’ Cameron Curet broke off an 85-yard touchdown run on the second play from scrimmage. Costa Mesa (1-5, 1-0 in league) did not stop there in earning its first win of the season. The Mustangs took a 41-0 halftime lead, scoring on their first six possessions.
By the time that Laguna Beach first crossed midfield, early in the second quarter, Costa Mesa already had a 28-0 lead.
Curet finished with 10 carries for 174 yards and a touchdown, while Mason Mataafa had 11 carries for 87 yards and two scores. Mataafa also had two quarterback sacks, one causing a fumble that Roman Ayala recovered.
Michael Dias found the end zone twice, one on a one-yard rushing score just before halftime and again on a 52-yard fumble recovery early in the third quarter. And Josh Snipes had six carries for 29 yards, all in the second half.
— Matt Szabo
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•The last time a Newport Harbor receiver put up video game stats like Cablay was two years ago, when Quest Truxton hauled in 12 catches for 216 yards and three touchdowns.
But Truxton recorded those numbers in a 31-28 overtime win against Los Alamitos.
Los Alamitos is the Sailors’ next opponent. Newport Harbor (3-3, 1-0 in league) travels to face the Griffins (5-1, 1-0) at Veterans Stadium in Long Beach on Friday at 7 p.m.
The Sailors have defeated Los Alamitos in overtime in each of the past two seasons, and they have won three straight against the Griffins. The contest will also feature two of the best coaches in the state.
Los Alamitos’ John Barnes has 315 career wins during his 37-year coaching career, 36 of those spent with the Griffins. Brinkley is 260-155-7 during his 37 years coaching, 29 with the Sailors.
Brinkley and Barnes are two of 22 coaches who have won at least 260 games in California. Barnes ranks fourth in the state in all-time victories and Brinkley is tied for No. 21 on the list, according to CalHiSports.com.
— David Carrillo Peñaloza
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•Christopher Moya, a soccer player, gave Estancia High a leg up in Orange Coast League play.
The junior converted three field goals, helping Estancia kick off league with a 30-20 win against host Calvary Chapel at Jim Scott Stadium on Thursday.
Moya, in his first season playing football, earned his first chance to attempt field goals last week for Estancia, which is ranked No. 5 in the CIF Southern Section Southern Division poll. He was perfect, hitting from 25, 38 and 43 yards.
Each of Moya’s kicks helped Estancia close out the second, third and fourth quarters strong. The final field goal, the 43-yarder, gave Estancia a 10-point lead with 1:50 to go.
“He stepped up,” said Estancia Coach Mike Bargas via text, before adding that there is room for improvement for his team.
Estancia looks to shore things up in its return to Jim Scott Stadium on Friday. In the next contest, Estancia (4-2, 1-0 in league) is the home team when it faces Costa Mesa (1-5, 1-0) in the Battle for the Bell rivalry game at 7 p.m.
Estancia lost to Costa Mesa last year, its first setback to the Mustangs since 2009. Going into the 48th edition of the Battle for the Bell, Estancia holds a 27-19-1 edge in the series.
— David Carrillo Peñaloza
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•Corona del Mar High sophomore quarterback Chase Garber contributed during spot duty in the Sea Kings’ preleague schedule, but collected extended playing time due to an injury in the team’s 21-7 Pacific Coast League opening win at Irvine High on Friday.
Garbers, who had completed seven of eight passes for 41 yards entering Friday, connected on 12 of 20 attempts for 167 yards. Included in that performance was his first varsity touchdown pass, an eight-yard hookup with senior Cole Collins that finalized the scoring for the winners late in the third quarter.
Garbers also rushed for a game-high 90 yards on 15 attempts, including a one-yard touchdown run. He now has four touchdowns and 177 rushing yards on the season.
“He stepped in there and did a real good job for us,” said CdM Coach Scott Meyer, who added that Garbers has earned the right in practice to regularly play a series or two in relief of junior starter Peter Bush.
And when Bush rolled an ankle late in the first quarter that sidelined him for the night, Garbers assumed command well enough for the CdM offense to seemingly not miss a beat.
On his first series, Garbers guided a nine-play, 71-yard touchdown drive that he capped by spinning in from the one-yard line to put the visitors (5-1, 1-0 in league), who share the No. 1 ranking in the CIF Southern Section Southwest Division, on top, 7-0.
Meyer said Bush, who completed seven of 11 passes for 105 yards before being sidelined, should be ready to go for Friday’s league clash with Woodbridge.
— Barry Faulkner
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•Costa Mesa’s 48-0 win over Laguna Beach was its third shutout in Coach Wally Grant’s four-year tenure, and first since his first season of 2011. The Mustangs’ last shutout was when they beat Saddleback, 61-0, on Oct. 21, 2011.
The Mustangs have won their league opener in three of Grant’s four seasons.
— Matt Szabo
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•The Mustangs’ blowout win over Laguna was also their homecoming game.
Arisa Joi was crowned the homecoming queen at halftime of the football game. And Joi also has an athletic background for Costa Mesa.
Joi is the captain of the Mustangs’ girls’ golf team and also has run track.
— Matt Szabo
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•The CdM starting front four, led by senior end Parker Chase and which has combined for all but one of the team’s 24.5 sacks this season, might be known as the Chase Pack.
Chase, who has 10 sacks this season after collecting 16 as a junior, has joined senior tackle Justin Hess (5.5 sacks this season), senior end Harrison Carter (4.5) and senior tackle Mat Flores (3.5) in consistently harassing opposing quarterbacks in 2014.
But Irvine’s quick passing attack and effective offensive line play helped limit CdM to just one sack, which Carter collected in the final minute.
The Sea Kings did, however, produce a handful of hurries that led to incomplete passes.
— Barry Faulkner
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•CdM had two interceptions, lost one of its four fumbles and missed three field-goal attempts against the Vaqueros (4-2, 0-1), but Meyer refused to use coming off a bye week as an excuse for the sloppy play.
“Irvine was coming off a bye too,” Meyer said. “We did end up with quite a few yards [502 in total offense], but we just couldn’t seem to get in the end zone more.
“It was great to get back into the win column and I was really happy with the defense,” Meyer said after CdM bounced back from a 28-14 loss at Tesoro that halted a state-leading 30-game winning streak. “But we still want to work offensively on cleaning up the turnovers.”
— Barry Faulkner
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•Norris, who’s bound for Northern Arizona, holds almost every passing record at Newport Harbor.
Last week, he broke the program’s single-game touchdown passing record, throwing for six against Huntington Beach. The senior owned the previous mark, a five-touchdown effort in a 49-48 upset of top-seeded La Habra in the quarterfinals of the CIF Southern Section Southwest Division playoffs last year.
Norris, who completed 28 of 43 passes for 346 yards, with one interception last week, has 5,925 passing yards, tops for a career at Newport Harbor. During his three-year career, he has thrown for a school-best 63 touchdowns, with only 18 interceptions. For his career, Norris has completed 61% of his passes (457 of 747).
Norris also ranks No. 1 at Newport Harbor in single-season touchdown passes (27), single-game passing yards (474) and single-game attempts (63). He shares the top spot in single-game completions (36) with Shane Foley, a 1986 graduate.
Another mark Norris is aiming for belongs to Foley. Foley is first in single-season passing yards with 3,057. Norris came close to surpassing Foley last year, finishing with 2,959 yards.
This season, Norris is almost halfway to Foley’s record. Norris has 1,503 passing yards, completing 121 of 180 passes and 20 touchdowns, with four interceptions.
Norris is guaranteed at least four more games in the regular season. His numbers can only get better.
Norris will have to throw without left tackle Joey Stukonis protecting his blindside.
Stukonis, a junior, said via Facebook that he partially broke an ankle late in the third quarter last week. He said he expects to miss at least six weeks. With only four games left in the regular season, the Sailors would have to qualify for the CIF Southern Section West Valley Division playoffs and reach the semifinals to give Stukonis a chance to return.
“[I’m] confident in my team,” said Stukonis, referring to the Sailors playing without him the rest of the regular season. “[I’ll] support them all the way.”
— David Carrillo Peñaloza
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•The Laurent brothers at Estancia combined for 49 rushes for 249 yards and two touchdowns.
Christian, a senior, finished with more touches (29) and yards (128) on the ground, but Dylan produced the two- and nine-yard scores.
Dylan, a sophomore, also caught five passes for 49 yards, and he intercepted a pass as a cornerback.
— David Carrillo Peñaloza
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•With its result against Calvary Chapel, Estancia has reeled off three straight victories. The last time it won that many in a row, Estancia also beat Calvary Chapel for its third straight triumph.
A lot more was at stake for Estancia in winning three consecutive last year. Estancia closed out league with three must-win games in order to qualify for the CIF Southern Section Southern Division playoffs. Estancia’s 24-14 upset of Calvary Chapel secured the league’s No. 2 playoff entry. Both teams finished 3-2, good for a share of second play, but the head-to-head tiebreaker went to Estancia.
— David Carrillo Peñaloza