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Football: Rough one for Tars

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HUNTINGTON BEACH — Twenty-three is the number of touchdowns the Newport Harbor High football team has allowed in its three Sunset League games. The Sailors cannot seem to stop any offense in league.

One telltale sign that Newport Harbor’s defense is struggling is it allowed three touchdowns on fourth down to Edison on Friday. The Sailors let the defending league champion Chargers score on any down and roll to a 48-7 win at Huntington Beach High.

The Sailors gave up 48 points to Huntington Beach two weeks ago, 62 to Los Alamitos last week, and 48 points to Edison this week. The 158 combined points is the most Newport Harbor has given up during a three-game stretch in the 29 years under Coach Jeff Brinkley.

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Despite allowing 52.6 points per game in league play, the Sailors (3-5, 1-2 in league) can still qualify for the CIF Southern Section West Valley Division playoffs. Brinkley said the Sailors must shore up the defense in the next two games for any shot to earn the league’s third automatic postseason berth.

“This is out of the ordinary for us,” Brinkley said of his defense’s inability to slow down the opposing offense.

Newport Harbor found itself buried, 27-0, at halftime, before it suffered its second straight blowout loss on the road in league. The Chargers have had Newport Harbor’s number, winning their 10th straight against the Sailors.

Edison, which hasn’t lost to Newport Harbor in 35 years, almost became the only team to shutout the Sailors twice since 2012. Quarterback Cole Norris’ six-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Keaton Cablay late in the third quarter ended the Chargers’ shutout bid.

Edison, ranked No. 5 in the CIF Southern Section West Valley Division poll, stayed in a first-place tie with No. 8 Los Alamitos at 3-0 in league. Both of those programs have put a hurting on the Sailors, leaving them in a precarious situation, tied for third place with Fountain Valley and Huntington Beach.

Next week is a home date for the Sailors against Marina (0-8, 0-3), followed up by the regular-season finale against Fountain Valley (5-3, 1-2) at Huntington Beach on Nov. 7. Those two matchups are must-win situations for Newport Harbor, if it plans to continue its season past league.

History has shown the Sailors have enjoyed success against both Marina and Fountain Valley, having beaten both programs in each of the last four years, and Marina every season since the Sailors rejoined the Sunset League eight years ago.

“We’re struggling, too,” said Brinkley, when asked if facing Marina next will help his team bounce back.

No victory is a sure thing for the injury-riddled Sailors, not even against lowly Marina. The Sailors are playing without their starting tailback and safety, Chance Siemonsma (knee), left tackle and defensive tackle, Joey Stukonis (ankle), and defensive back Reed Rutter (arm).

Those key players have been lost for the season. Not having them around has affected Newport Harbor, and it showed right away against the Chargers.

A little more than 3 minutes into the game, Edison struck first. Jacob Price helped, returning the kickoff 44 yards, setting up the offense on the 45-yard line. The Chargers went 55 yards in eight plays, only facing a third down once, and then they faced a fourth-down situation. On fourth-and-inches inside Newport Harbor’s 10-yard line, Jacob Marines rushed for more than a first down, he produced a nine-yard touchdown with 8:56 left in the first quarter.

A couple of minutes later, the Sailors responded with a big play. Norris, who completed 12 of 26 passes for a season-low 156 yards, found a wide-open Brett Beaudette past midfield, and the tight end went down on Edison’s 12. The 56-yard pass play was for nothing. Three plays later, defensive back AJ Beynon picked off a Norris pass in the end zone.

Beynon found himself in the other end zone later in the first quarter. Playing receiver, Beynon got over the top of the secondary, and hauled in a 56-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Grant Lowary.

Lowary and Beynon hooked up for a second long touchdown pass, a 35-yarder with 14 seconds left in the first half. Lowary, who finished 12 of 19 for 240 passing yards, added his third touchdown pass in the third quarter, after linebacker Jeff Evans picked off a Norris pass on the Sailors’ 36. The turnover led to Lowary hitting Price on a 34-yard score on fourth-and-eight.

The touchdown marked the third the Sailors allowed on fourth down. The other two came on runs inside Newport Harbor’s 10-yard line.

In all, Edison recorded seven touchdowns, four on the ground, the longest was a 54-yarder by backup running back Turner Maza in the fourth quarter. Maza finished with five rushes for 100 yards, 30 yards better than Marines, the starter.

“We have to get better,” said Brinkley, whose team has given up 16 rushing touchdowns, five passing touchdowns, one special teams touchdown and one defensive touchdown in the last three league contests.

Edison 48, Newport Harbor 7

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Newport 0 – 0 – 7 – 0 — 7

Edison 13 – 14 – 7 – 14 — 48

FIRST QUARTER

E – Marines 9 run (Jinkins kick), 8:56.

E – Beynon 56 pass from Lowary (kick failed), 4:17.

SECOND QUARTER

E – Times 2 run (Jinkins kick), 10:34.

E – Beynon 35 pass from Lowary (Jinkins kick), :14.

THIRD QUARTER

E – Price 34 pass from Lowary (Jinkins kick), 3:24.

NH – Cablay 6 pass from Norris (Schultz kick), :36.

FOURTH QUARTER

E – Maza 54 run (Jinkins kick), 7:17.

E – Mang 9 run (Jinkins kick), 1:14.

INDIVIDUAL RUSHING

NH – Kinder, 16-73.

E – Maza, 5-100, 1 TD.

INDIVIDUAL PASSING

NH – Norris, 12-26-2, 156, 1 TD.

E – Lowary, 12-19-0, 240, 3 TDs.

INDIVIDUAL RECEIVING

NH – Cablay, 3-40, 1 TD.

E – Beynon, 2-91, 2 TDs.

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