ORANGE CRUSHED!!

Tony Altobelli

ORANGE - For those who enjoy going to games to watch personnel and

team streaks come to an end, this was the wrong game to go to.

Newport Harbor High clobbered host Orange in the season opener, 55-6,

Thursday night, keeping numerous trends going for both the Sailors and

Panthers.

With the win, the Sailors, currently ranked fifth in CIF Southern

Section VI, extend Orange County’s longest streak of successful openers

at 11 in a row, and their nonleague winning streak to 21 in a row.

For the Panthers, their woes continue, dropping their 14th straight

game with the loss.

Despite the lopsided win, Sailors Coach Jeff Brinkley knows there is

still an awful lot of things that need to improve for his club to be

successful.

“It’s nice to get the win and we’re happy that there are no injuries,

but we were pretty sloppy in certain areas,” Brinkley said. “Even if it’s

the first game, we’re too disciplined to make the mistakes that we made,

like having too many men on the field, that sort of thing.”

On the positive side, Brinkley was very pleased with how the younger

guys performed with the game out of hand.

“That was definitely the best thing for us tonight,” Brinkley said.

“Our young guys came in and did a heck of a job, both offensively and

defensively.”

The Sailors’ defense completely shut down the Panthers allowing

minus-14 yards of total offense in the first half.

The game’s momentum was grabbed for good by the Sailors late in the

first quarter.

After a Newport fumble, Orange took over on the Sailors’ 21-yard-line,

before Billy Clayton intercepted a Ryan Johnson pass and returned it 92

yards for the game’s opening score.

From then on, it was all Newport.

“They (Orange) worked real hard against us, especially early in the

game,” Brinkley said. “We made some adjustments and we knew if we stayed

patient and kept pounding, we would get our opportunities.”

Those opportunities came in the second quarter, as the Sailors scored

on the next four possessions to open up a 35-0 halftime lead.

“I knew if we kept pounding it at them, they would get tired,” Sailors

running back Andre Stewart said.

Stewart got the second-quarter explosion going with an 18-yard

touchdown run.

Quarterbacks Brian Gaeta and Chris Manderino didn’t throw much, but

they were effective, each throwing a touchdown pass in the second quarter

for the Tars.

“I like our situation at quarterback with Brian and Chris,” Brinkley

said. “With those two, along with Stewart and Ryan Brill in the

backfield, I like our chances with those four.”

With the game out of hand, the Sailors took to the ground, where they

racked up 301 yards rushing, led by Brill’s 113 yards and two touchdowns

on 10 carries and Stewart’s 102 yards and two scores on 11 carries.

For the Panthers, backup quarterback C.J. Joiner put up some solid

numbers in the second half against Newport Harbor’s bench, going 12-19

with 142 yards and one touchdown.

The Sailors Travis Trimble wrapped up the scoring with a four-yard

touchdown run late in the fourth quarter, before Orange broke up the

shutout with a touchdown as time expired.

Newport is at Westminster to duel Marina Thursday at 7 p.m.