Newport Harbor High football coach Jeff Brinkley has long contended
that the annual Battle of the Bay against Corona del Mar is just
another game.
And, with the Sailors having won six straight and 10 of the last
11 confrontations with their Back Bay brethren, it's becoming more
and more difficult to argue the point.
The two schools will meet for the 44th time in a nonleague clash
Friday at 7 p.m. at Orange Coast College. And the Sailors (2-0),
ranked No. 2 in CIF Southern Section Division VI, enter as the
favorites yet again.
CdM (2-1), ranked No. 8 in CIF Division IX, built a 17-0 lead
against the Tars last season, only to see Newport score twice in the
final 3:27 to escape with a 21-17 triumph.
Newport Harbor used similar late dramatics to win by an identical
score last week against Marina and has lost just once in its last 16
games.
CdM which trails the Back Bay series, 31-12, is hardly ready to
acknowledge any inferiority complex.
"Our kids aren't afraid of those kids," Sea Kings Coach Dick
Freeman said. "It's just another football game and we think we can
win. The last couple years [including a 29-14 Sailor win in 2003], we
did ourselves in. [The Sailors] big-played us."
The Sea Kings' sophomores still have the vivid memory of their
24-8 victory last season in the freshman game.
But the last time the Sea Kings hoisted the perpetual Bell trophy,
this year's seniors were in the fifth grade.
"[The Sea Kings] have some people who can play," Brinkley said.
"We just want to go out and play better."
The Sailors have featured a pair of running backs thus far. Senior
Jack Tracy has 191 yards on 28 carries, while junior Jasen Ruiz, who
sat out against Marina with a hip flexor strain, collected 126 yards
on 23 carries in the season-opening win over Fountain Valley.
Senior quarterback Tom Jackson has completed 26 of 44 passes for
292 yards and four touchdowns with just one interception for the
Sailors. His 23-yard scoring pass to Jarrett Daniel with 12 seconds
left was the difference in the Tars' win over Marina.
Daniel, a junior, has 10 catches for 79 yards and two TDs, while
James Coder, a senior, has eight catches for 130 yards and one TD for
the Sailors.
Senior Matt Loyd spearheads the Sea Kings' ground game. He has
rushed for 482 yards and four TDs on 65 carries this fall.
Senior Colin Wigley is scheduled to make his second start at
quarterback for CdM. He is 10 of 22 passing for 202 yards and two
TDs, with one interception this season.
