| 1Q | 2Q | 3Q | 4Q | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Newport Harbor | 7 | 14 | 6 | 7 | 34 |
| Huntington Beach | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
The Newport Harbor football team blew through Huntington Beach Friday night taking a never-in-doubt 34-3 Sunset League win for its seventh straight victory without a setback. The Sailors’ 7-0 start is the best in a quarter-century since the 1994 squad went 14-0 to win the CIF Southern Section championship. In the wake of its final away game on the regular season schedule, Harbor finishes unbeaten at 4-0 on the road with three critical home games remaining.
“Nice win, it’s good to be 7-0,” said Harbor Head Coach Peter Lofthouse, fully aware he was stating the obvious. “It’s great to keep racking ‘em up!”
In limiting the Oilers to a single field goal on the night, the Sailors stalwart defense turned in its best statistical performance so far with four sacks, two interceptions, and a blocked field goal. Led by linebackers Chad Koste and Erik Hehl, the Tar-D yielded only 20 yards rushing on the night. The three points allowed was Harbor’s lowest of the season.
Sophomore quarterback Nick Kim’s second straight start was even better than his first. Filling in for the injured Cole Lavin, Kim connected on 24 of 30 passes for 372 yards and two touchdowns. In two games, the JSerra transfer is 49 of 63 for 672 yards and three TD’s with one interception.
And still, the biggest gust of wind in the Harbor sail remains Justin McCoy. The junior running back opened the scoring on a first quarter pass play over the middle that he broke for a 48-yard touchdown sprint. It was the first of his four touchdowns on the night giving him eight in the last two games. McCoy finished as both the leading rusher and receiver in the game, grinding out 81 yards on 14 carries and 113 yards on four pass receptions.
After Huntington Beach answered with a second quarter field goal, the Oilers seemed to gain momentum when the kickoff team recovered a short pooch kick for another quick possession deep in Harbor territory. Unable to advance the ball in three plays, HB lined up for a field goal that would close the gap to one point. But junior cornerback Mason DePoy snuffed the scoring opportunity, charging from the left side for a diving block of the kick to take back possession.
The offense made quick work of the opportunity as Kim hit on five of six passes to four different receivers before handing off to McCoy for a two-yard touchdown run. Junior James Crowell caught two passes for 15 and 17 yards and two first downs on the ten play drive.
With time winding down in the half, DePoy made his second big play of the night in as many defensive stands. His clutch interception at midfield thwarted the Oilers drive and put the Sailors offense back in business with :37 seconds on the clock. That would be more than enough time.
Another Kim to McCoy pass over the middle netted 36 yards before Kim found Mason Walker in the end zone for a 20-yard score and a 21-3 lead. The two-play drive ate all of :15 seconds off the clock.
Harbor extended its lead with the first possession of the second half with McCoy taking it in from 12 yards out to finish off a 7-play opening drive making it 27-3 after the missed extra point. The teams exchanged turnovers on successive plays in the fourth quarter with junior Kaden Stowell snatching an interception in Harbor territory to kill off any HB hopes for a comeback. McCoy capped the scoring on a five-yard run with 6:07 remaining in the game, icing the 34-3 final.
Go-to senior receiver Aidan Goltz caught seven passes for 99 yards as six different Sailors had multiple receptions. Crowell finished with four grabs for 77 yards, Walker also caught four for 53 yards, senior Austin Muro had three receptions and junior Joe Knipp finished with two.
“Nick does a good job of spreading the ball around to everybody, so it keeps you honest on defense,” noted Lofthouse of his offensive game plan. “By nature of their three-man rush we were able to have the opportunity to throw the ball downfield.”
“All our receivers, they’ve all been waiting for their time, they’re all very talented in their own way and we just found a way to get to all of them tonight,” added Kim. “The game plan was amazing. I don’t think there was a play that didn’t work for us tonight.”
(Well, truthfully, a couple wide receiver end-around run plays didn’t work at all, but we can let that slide).
Koste, a senior co-captain and two-time All-Sunset League selection paced the defense with nine solo tackles, two assists and a sack. Hehl had two sacks among his four solo tackles and four assists. Stowell and senior linebacker Johnny Brigandi had five solo tackles each and senior safety Michael Morrison contributed four solo’s with five assists. Senior defensive lineman Luis Torres notched the Sailors fourth sack in the win.
Harbor now faces the final three games, all at home, against the gauntlet of Sunset League heavyweights; Los Alamitos, Corona del Mar, and Edison. The Sailors are tied atop the standings with CdM at 2-0, but before looking ahead to the Battle of the Bay on October 25th, the focus has to be on the dangerous 2-5 Los Al team.
The Griffons are coming off a 42-7 win over Fountain Valley. The Sailors beat FV last week 38-24. Los Al is 1-1 and a game back in the standings since its loss to Edison 42-21 in the league opener – thus the Griffons will have the must-win incentive attached to the Newport Harbor game. Kickoff under the Friday night lights back home at Davidson Field is set for 7:00 pm. The night is also special as the Tar faithful will celebrate the 25th year of “the perfect season” from 1994 when the 14-0 Sailors were CIF Champions.
-Matt Morrison