Newport Harbor is the smallest public school in the Southern Section’s Pac-5 division, but it delivered a milestone victory over the weekend, handing coach Jeff Brinkley his 200th win at the school. More impressive, the Sailors’ 23-20 Sunset League victory was against Los Alamitos, which had been ranked No. 6 in the state.
Austin Rios rolled out on fourth down and threw a 6-yard touchdown pass to Parker Norton with 1 minute, 25 seconds remaining. It was the kind of result that galvanized the Sunset as the premier league this season in Orange County and perhaps the entire Southland, stealing it away from the Trinity League.
Heading into that first week of league play, Huntington Beach Edison was No. 1 in the state ranking, with No. 6 Los Alamitos and No. 11 Fountain Valley.
"I definitely think we're right up there," Edison coach Dave White said. "Maybe we've got a case. From one to five, I think we're as good as any league in Southern California. Other leagues may have better one and two teams, but our five is pretty good; we've got a lot of parity, a lot of good coaching.
"By no means do we think we're going to go undefeated in league."
That's quite a comment coming from the coach of a team that is No. 4 nationally in the MaxPreps' Freeman Rankings. A year ago, there was a five-way tie for first place between Edison, Los Alamitos, Fountain Valley, Esperanza and Newport – with Huntington Beach Marina bringing up the rear. This week, it's Edison (6-0, 1-0) leading the state, followed by No. 13 Los Alamitos (5-1, 1-1), No. 27 Fountain Valley (6-0, 1-0), No. 40 Newport Harbor (4-2, 1-0) and No. 80 Esperanza (3-3, 0-1).
Since 2000, the league has had a Division I or Pac-5 finalist five times among three teams: Edison twice, Los Alamitos twice (winning in 2002) and Esperanza. Only the Moore League – with Long Beach Poly accounting for all six appearances – has accounted for more finals appearances in the section's marquee division. The Serra League also accounted for five, but one of those appearances was by Mater Dei, which is now a part of the Trinity League.
"Two years ago, the year that we beat (top-seeded Sherman Oaks) Notre Dame, there was four of us in the quarterfinals," Brinkley said. "I think if you compare the advancement of this league with the others, this league has probably advanced more consistently than the other groups."
But the league itself "is a grind," Brinkley said. "If you're a little down, someone is going to beat you. You don't come up for air in this league."
Brinkley's historic victory shines a light on the league and the program. He actually has 230 wins total, including seven years combined at defunct Norwalk Excelsior, which he coached when he was 24 years old, and Norwalk. At Newport, he is 200-80-3. Any question of his ability can be answered by looking at one statistic: Over the last three years, with less talent, Brinkley's teams have beaten Los Alamitos, whose John Barnes (277 victories) is the winningest coach in Orange County.
"The thing I'm most proud of is that we've averaged over eight wins a year over my 24 years at Newport," Brinkley said. "That's a good tribute to the coaches I've had and how hard these kids play."
Newport, led by Cal-bound linebacker/receiver Cecil Whiteside, got some help the day before two-a-days began when running back Cedric Whitaker arrived from Oakland. The defense is starting three sophomores and a senior who had never played, defensive tackle Cameron Koziara, who made a couple of good plays against Los Alamitos. Newport had lost twice leading up to league play, to No. 10 Dana Hills (5-1) and Manhattan Beach Mira Costa (4-2), which is ranked No. 1 in the Southern Section Western Division. This week, Newport plays host to Edison.
Now it can be told
Newport Harbor defensive coordinator Tony Ciarelli had the task of readying for Los Alamitos running back Nick Richardson. "I watched film of their games against Narbonne and La Habra and thought there was no way we're going to stop this guy," Ciarelli said.
Richardson rushed 33 times for 208 yards but no touchdowns (he had 11 going into the game). Most impressive about Newport's 23-20 upset of Los Alamitos is that one of the Griffins' TDs came on a 97-yard interception return by Josh Gasser, and the other – in the fourth quarter – after a Los Alamitos punt ricocheted off a Sailor and gave the Griffins possession at the 38.
Big game of the week
No rivalry in the Southland is bigger than Santa Ana Mater Dei and Anaheim Servite, who will meet Friday in a Trinity League game at the Santa Ana Bowl. It's huge in part because Mater Dei's domination of the series has taken on a life of its own: Servite last won in 1988.
File photo by Louis Lopez
Max Wittek, Mater Dei
One coach who played both teams this season is Edison's Dave White. In consecutive weeks his Chargers beat Servite, 23-9, and Mater Dei, 36-29, in double overtime. Servite (5-1) is ranked No. 7 in the state; Mater Dei (3-3) is No. 62 but has a penchant for playing to the level of the competition.
"When we played Servite, it was our best game of the year," White said. "They were rolling and hammered three really good teams. I was just hoping to be able to play with them. The next week, I think we were still celebrating a little bit, Mater Dei was fired up and improving every week, and we had to grab our butts to pull it out. We played better against Servite than we did against Mater Dei.
"Then there's the 20-year jinx. On paper, Servite is as good as Mater Dei. Mentally, I'm sure they're not talking about the jinx, but if it's a close game in the fourth quarter, are they thinking about it? In 2002, I definitely thought Servite was the better team, but they got killed by Mater Dei. The (2006) team with D.J. Shoemate, Chris Galippo, that was a hell of a team. They were as good as Mater Dei, but they lost. Who's better? Mater Dei might have a few more weapons, Servite the better linemen. It's going to be close, I'm sure."
Big game of the week II
Southwestern League superiority is at stake, and no doubt there will be ramifications in the Inland Division with the outcome of Vista Murrieta (6-0, 1-0) playing at Temecula Chaparral (4-2, 1-0) on Friday. Vista Murrieta is ranked No. 9 in the state; the Broncos shut down one of the state's leading rushers, Jesse Callier of Downey Warren two weeks ago, and then shut out Temescal Canyon last week. The defensive unit will be tested by Chaparral quarterback Mitch Glassman and a high-powered offense. Glassman has averaged 233 yards and thrown 16 touchdowns with five interceptions, and Jonathan Diaz has averaged 119 yards with eight touchdowns.
Yet Chaparral's defense wasn't too bad last week against Murrieta Valley, as Deshawn Hathorn returned interceptions 75 and 32 yards for touchdowns, and Darius Guillory returned one 50 yards for a score. Chaparral will take all the points it can get, even from the defense; Vista Murrieta has allowed only 79 points in six games, and the 28 it allowed last week came after building a 40-0 lead.
JSerra's step forward
San Juan Capistrano JSerra finished undefeated in nonleague play for the second season in a row, but it had never won a Trinity League game in three years (and 14 games) prior to downing Santa Margarita, 14-12. Jim Hartigan is coach at JSerra, but also began the program at Santa Margarita.
"I don't think you can say we've improved until we win a Trinity League game," the third-year coach said. "When you win six games in a row, that feels good. When you beat your crosstown rival, that feels good. To get your first Trinity League win, that feels good."
Judging by Hartigan's reaction after the game, it felt great. Bobby Brown ran for one touchdown and passed for another, and the defense forced Santa Margarita to attempt field goals three times from inside the 15; the Eagles converted twice. JSerra (6-0, 1-0) faces its toughest test of the season this week against Orange Lutheran (3-3, 1-0), which celebrated the return of linebacker/running back Garret Gilliland last week with a 28-25 victory over Mater Dei.
Alemany gets slapped
Mission Hills Alemany ran a full-page ad in The Signal newspaper, but a paragraph about the football program was in violation of Southern Section rules. For that, the school was reprimanded and given a one-year sanction: Any athlete who transfers for football will be ineligible pending personal approval by section commissioner Jim Staunton.
Butkus Award finalists
Josh Shirley of Fontana Kaiser and Hayes Pullard from Los Angeles Crenshaw are among the 12 finalists for the high school Butkus Award, given to the best linebacker in the nation.
Three yards and a cloud of dust
Corona Santiago defeated Riverside King, 49-35 in a Big VIII game. In a losing cause, King's Todd Handley had a 68-yard run for a touchdown to end the first half, and opened the second half with an 85-yard kickoff return for a score. Handley also scored on a 63-yard run. He finished with 28 carries for 223 yards. Teammate Justin Decout also had a 99-yard kickoff return. . . . Riverside Norte Vista is 6-0 for the first time since 2000. . . . A week after ending Long Beach Poly's 80-game Moore League winning streak, Lakewood got off to a pedestrian start against winless Long Beach Cabrillo, holding a 19-0 lead at halftime en route to a 61-8 victory. . . . Dana Hills' 37-34 victory over Rancho Santa Margarita Tesoro virtually assures that there will be a new South Coast League champion. Tesoro won the last two titles after Mission Viejo had won seven straight. . . .
Sherman Oaks Notre Dame, which trailed by 14 in the game and 10 in the fourth quarter, pulled out a nonleague victory over La Canada St. Francis, 28-24. It's a good win for Notre Dame, but also a good showing for St. Francis (4-2), which was getting its toughest test of the season and hoping to find out just how good it was. Turns out it was pretty good. St. Francis drove to the 8-yard line before fumbling the ball away with 1:06 left in the game. . . . Like St. Francis, previously unbeaten West Hills Chaminade (5-1) is in the four-team Mission League, but the Eagles' toughest test of the season didn't go so well; they were beaten by L.A. Loyola, 42-3. St. Francis and Chaminade meet in the last game of the season. . . . Next up, St. Francis vs. Loyola, and Chaminade vs. Notre Dame. . . . The Loyola victory was the first for 24-year-old interim coach Adam Guerra. As noted above, Newport Harbor Coach Jeff Brinkley was 24 when he got his first head coaching job. . . . Junior quarterback Vernon Adams threw one touchdown pass and ran for another scored witha little more three minutes left to give Alemany a 21-17 nonleague victory over Encino Crespi. It's a stunning loss for Crespi (3-3), which has lost six of nine dating to last season. The Celts had won six of their previous seven prior to that. . . .
USC-bound running back Trajuan Briggs made his season debut for beleaguered Lake Balboa Birmingham (0-6). He carried only eight times for 38 yards before leaving the game when his ankle reportedly "tightened up." El Camino Real (6-0) beat Birmingham, 47-24, in a West Valley opener. . . .
A vote will be held on Thursday to determine Northern Area league alignment from 2010-14. Among the dominoes to fall: Whether Oaks Christian goes into the Marmonte League and whether Ventura St. Bonaventure remains in the Channel League. . . . Among the best reasons for Oaks Christian, ranked No. 2 in the state, to play somewhere other than the Tri-Valley League was this statistic: In its 65-6 victory over winless Santa Barbara Bishop Diego, it had scoring drives of five, three, four, two, two and seven plays, and the starters didn't play in the second half. . . .
Senior safety James Grace of Inglewood has been granted a fifth year of athletic eligibility through a hardship waiver after winning approval from the CIF. . . . The L.A. City Section ruled that quarterback Michael Bercovici of Woodland Hills Taft is ineligible; Bercovici had transferred from Westlake Village Westlake but the section determined the move was athletically motivated. . . . San Fernando was ruled by the City Section to have used an illegal player and must forfeit victories over Littlerock and Sun Valley. San Fernando is now 1-5.
Twin billing
Baseball coach Scott Pearson has left L.A. Roosevelt after compiling a 273-59-3 record. He will join his twin brother, football coach Kevin Pearson at L.A. Cathedral.
Recruiting news
Jesse Callier, a running back at Downey Warren, has committed to Washington. . . . Pierce Richardson (6-5, 220), a tight end at Encino Crespi, has committed to Iowa State.
Byron Wesley, a 6-5 forward at Rancho Cucamonga Etiwanda, has committed to USC for men's basketball. He played last season at San Bernardino Cajon.
Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis, junior from Mater Dei who was last year's Gatorade State Player of the Year, has committed to Connecticut for women's basketball. . . . Rhema Gardner, a wing at Chino Hills Ayala, has committed to UCLA. . . . Trinidee Trice, a forward at Riverside North, has committed to Northern Arizona.
Clay Williamson, a junior outfielder from San Juan Capistrano JSerra, has committed to Cal State Fullerton.
Chelsea Goodacre, a junior catcher at Temecula Valley, has committed to Arizona for softball.
Martin Henderson began covering Southland preps in 1993 for the Los Angeles Times. He contributes to the Orange County Register, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin and San Bernardino Sun, and offers up motorsports opinions at Racescribe.com. You can reach him at southlandpreps@yahoo.com.