Newport Harbor High football coach Jeff Brinkley knew going into the
Sailors' contest against host Dana Hills Friday night that Dolphins'
quarterback Grant Schwartz was a gifted athlete.
Still, the Sailors weren't able to contain him.
Schwartz, a senior who has had offers from Oregon, Boise State and
Colorado State, accounted for five touchdowns and the Dolphins
defeated the Sailors, 39-13, in a nonleague contest.
Schwartz ran for two scores, threw for another two and returned a
kickoff 92 yards for a touchdown while also anchoring a stifling pass
defense. Just about the only thing he didn't do was kick the extra
points.
"He's a good athlete," Brinkley said about Schwartz. "That's why
he's been offered [scholarships from those Universities.] We
definitely got to find a way to hem somebody like that in."
Schwartz scored on runs of 6 and 77 yards, and threw for touchdown
passes of 26 and 28 yards. He totaled 344 yards (rushing, passing and
return yardage).
The Dolphins (3-1) defeated the Sailors (3-1), ranked No. 2 in CIF
Southern Section Division VI, for the first time in six seasons. Dana
Point had lost the five previous meetings by a combined, 181-63.
"It's awesome because they're obviously an established program in
Orange County," Schwartz said about his team's victory over the
Sailors. "For us to arrive as a team, we really have to start beating
teams like them."
Senior running back Jack Tracy fueled the Sailors, rushing for 197
yards on 15 carries, while senior quarterback Tom Jackson rushed for
a touchdown and threw for another.
Jackson completed 7 of 17 for 70 yards. He scored on a run of 5
yards and tossed a 14-yard TD pass to junior wide out Jarrett Daniel.
"We didn't come out ready to play," Jackson said. "We were kind of
shell shocked in the first few minutes of the first quarter. And they
had a lot of big momentum plays, which we just couldn't counter
tonight."
Newport Harbor had a lackluster opening drive on offense, while
the Dolphins came out firing on all cylinders.
After Dana Hills deferred the opening kickoff, the Sailors only
managed four plays before punting during the game's first series.
The Dolphins got the ball back and put together a seven-play,
71-yard drive, keyed by a 35-yard run from Sean Chiodini and capped
with a 6-yard quarterback sneak TD run from Schwartz.
Newport put together a nine-play drive on its next offensive
series, but after a string of incomplete passes, the Sailors were
forced to punt again. And three plays later, Schwartz broke off a run
