Football: Sailors back in playoff race

The Sunset League hasn’t treated Newport Harbor High’s defense well this year. For Marina, it has been a lot worse on both sides of the ball in league, and for a lot longer time.

The two struggling football teams met on Friday. Going into the contest, the Sailors had surrendered 52.6 points per game in league, almost matching the number of league games the Vikings had lost in a row.

Marina turned out to be a good opponent for Newport Harbor to stop. Every other team in league has buried the Vikings in the last 10 years.

The host Sailors hammered the Vikings, 49-15, handing Marina its 50th straight loss in league. Beating the team with the worst league losing streak in Orange County history was a must for Newport Harbor.

With one game left in league, the Sailors (4-5, 2-2 in league) kept their CIF Southern Section West Valley Division playoff hopes alive. They play Fountain Valley at Huntington Beach High next week, and a win guarantees the Sailors the league’s third postseason berth.

“Basically for us the playoffs started tonight,” said Newport Harbor Coach Jeff Brinkley, whose team is alone in third place in league with Fountain Valley and Huntington Beach both losing on Friday and both falling to 1-3. “You just got to keep winning.”

The Sailors haven’t missed the playoffs much under Brinkley, only six times in the past 28 years. After watching his team give up 158 points in the first three league games, Brinkley needed his defense to make some stops.

The defensive unit came through against winless Marina (0-9, 0-4). Early on, linebacker Riley Gaddis recorded a seven-yard sack. Gaddis contributed in all phases of the game.

The senior returned the opening kickoff 73 yards, setting up the Sailors on the opponent’s 25-yard line. At the start of the second half, Gaddis picked off a pass, setting up the offense on Marina’s 22. The plays on special teams and defense led to Newport Harbor touchdowns, a one-yard run by fullback Trevor Shaw in the first quarter and a 22-yard run by running back Cole Kinder in the third quarter.

Gaddis, who missed returning the kickoff for a touchdown and had a pick-six called back because of a penalty, eventually found the end zone late in the third quarter.

“That made me feel a little bit better,” Gaddis said of his six-yard rushing touchdown.

The Sailors stayed on the ground, handing the ball to Kinder, who rushed 15 times for 188 yards and three touchdowns. The sophomore ripped a 68-yard touchdown run, the first of two touchdowns for Kinder in the opening quarter.

After the first quarter, Newport Harbor led, 21-0, marking the first time it was ahead after a quarter since it outlasted Huntington Beach, 52-48, in a league opener on Oct. 10 at Davidson Field.

The Sailors have found success in league at home, both of their triumphs coming at Davidson Field. The latest one didn’t require quarterback Cole Norris’ services after Newport Harbor’s first drive in the second half.

The senior sat out the final 23 minutes. With the team taking a 42-7 lead against Marina 54 seconds into the second half, there was no need for Norris to be in the game. He completed seven of eight passes for 156 yards and two touchdowns. The second-quarter scores through the air, a 14-yarder to Max Durante and a 55-yarder to Jack Rapillo, gave Norris 69 passing touchdowns for a career, the seventh-best total in Orange County history.

Norris connected with Rapillo six times for 137 yards. Norris might get some help next week in the form of protection. Brinkley said he would find out next week whether center Elliot Frye (broken hand), left tackle Joey Stukonis (fractured ankle) and right guard Mike Jarboe (concussion) could return for the regular-season finale against Fountain Valley.

“Hopefully we can get a couple of these wounded guys back,” said Brinkley, who moved left tackle Colin Rowe to center, tight end Brett Beaudette to left tackle, and Arthur Guillen lined up at right guard against Marina.

“We got a tough one ahead of us. If [the Barons] were to beat us, [the league’s third automatic playoff berth] would [come down to] a flip because it would be a three-way tie [with us, Fountain Valley, and Huntington Beach, if the Oilers defeat Marina next week]. We beat Huntington, and then [Fountain Valley] would’ve beaten us.”

The Sailors have knocked off Fountain Valley in the previous four meetings. Their showing against Marina on defense bodes well for them to prevail against the Barons again.

“After two losses in a row, we needed this momentum going into the last game, fighting for a playoff spot,” Gaddis said. “[Giving] up [15] points tonight definitely gave our defense some confidence going into Fountain Valley. That’s definitely something that we’re going to need.”

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Newport Harbor 49, Marina 15

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Marina 0 – 7 – 0 – 8 — 15

Newport 21 – 14 – 14 – 0 — 49

FIRST QUARTER

NH – Shaw 1 run (Schultz kick), 10:27.

NH – Kinder 68 run (Schultz kick), 6:03.

NH – Kinder 1 run (Schultz kick), 1:20.

SECOND QUARTER

NH – Durante 14 pass from Norris (Schultz kick), 11:08.

NH – Rapillo 55 pass from Norris (Schultz kick), 7:13.

M – Riederich 1 run (Asad kick), 2:41.

THIRD QUARTER

NH – Kinder 22 run (Blake kick), 11:06.

NH – Gaddis 6 run (Blake kick), 3:45.

FOURTH QUARTER

M – Malerstein 1 run (Barnes pass from De La Torre), 2:27.

INDIVIDUAL RUSHING

M – Malerstein, 10-56, 1 TD.

NH – Kinder, 15-188, 3 TDs.

INDIVIDUAL PASSING

M – Holmes, 4-11-2, 77.

NH – Norris, 7-8-0, 156, 2 TDs.

INDIVIDUAL RECEIVING

M – Barnes, 3-57.

NH – Rapillo, 6-137, 1 TD.