The Newport Harbor football team finished off its second week of fall camp with its first taste of competition in a controlled scrimmage against Capistrano Valley High Friday night at Davidson Field. Approximately 400 supporters turned out for what was essentially a dress rehearsal ahead of the Sailors 2019 season opener August 23rd against Woodbridge (Irvine) at University High in Irvine.
Special teams was the focus of the first 30 minutes. Each team took punts, field goals and PATs.
Then, the next 45 minutes of the session consisted of opposition in light-contact drills covering special teams; 7-on-7 passing on the field house side of the field, and line blocking on the scoreboard side. The opponents then proceeded to full 11-on-11 contact scrimmaging in an offense/defense rotation. The first-team, second-team and JV squads each cycled through three sessions of 10 to 12 plays each.
“We kept things pretty vanilla, but I really liked the energy, I like the enthusiasm,” Head Coach Peter Lofthouse commented on his quick first impression of the evening. “I thought our first defense did a great job going toe-to-toe with their first offense. That’s a heck of football program over there and I felt like we competed very well with them.”
Capo Valley is coming off a 9-4 season and a fourth straight run in the CIF playoffs. The program is under the direction of first-year head coach Sean Curtis who was hired when John Bucher stepped down after six seasons. Harbor went 3-6-1 in 2018, Lofthouse’s first season at the helm.
The Sailors’ first-team defense looked solid against the run and limited the potent Cougars offensive attack to short, underneath pass receptions. The highlight of the night was a deep pass interception with some athletic flair by junior DB Mason DePoy.
The first-team offense worked mostly a controlled underneath passing attack with junior quarterback Cole Lavin spreading the ball to multiple receivers. Lavin completed (unofficially) 5 of 7 pass attempts in the 11-on-11 competition. He also rushed three times for short gains. Running backs Justin McCoy (junior) and senior Johnny Brigandi gained positive yards in limited carries. Offensive miscues included four sacks and a fumbled snap.
“Well, like any scrimmage, you do some things good, you do some things bad,” Coach Lofthouse reflected. “Some of the blitzes and the pressure they brought against our offense, we weren’t expecting that much blitz. That was good to get that against us because we know that’s something we’ve gotta rep and prepare for next week.”
From a depth perspective, the Harbor backups and JVs showed the program has made strides in developing young talent. Sophomore backup quarterback Nick Kim, a transfer from JSerra, displayed good accuracy running the second team offense. JV quarterback sophomore AJ Moore moved the offense with sharp passing and connected with sophomore receiver Jack Hutchinson on a pair of identical 40-yard touchdown throws for the only Sailor scores on the night.
On the lower level, the freshman teams played an afternoon scrimmage at 3 p.m. and showed a strong Newport pipeline in the wings.
After a Saturday film session and light workout, the Sailors take Sunday off before game-week preparations begin Monday. Woodbridge is coming off a 7-3 season in which they captured the Pacific Coast League title before falling in the first round of the CIF playoffs. Kickoff is set for 7:00 p.m. at University High, 4771 Campus Dr, Irvine, CA 92612.
–Matt Morrison