Upset pleases Brinkley

NEWPORT BEACH — In order to join the 200-win coaches club in Orange County Friday night, Jeff Brinkley had to guide his Newport Harbor High football team past a club member’s team.

Brinkley earned No. 200 against the coach with the most victories in the county.

Newport Harbor stunned Los Alamitos, coming from behind to win the Sunset League opener, 23-20, and snap a two-game losing streak.

Los Alamitos Coach John Barnes shook hands with Brinkley on the field, congratulating him on reaching the milestone. Brinkley wore a big smile and it grew as people began approaching him at Davidson Field.

Twenty-four years at Newport Harbor and Brinkley became the eighth coach in the county to lead his team to 200 wins.

The latest wasn’t easy. Facing the No. 6-ranked team in the CIF Southern Section Pac-5 Division poll, Newport Harbor (4-2, 1-0 in league) trailed Los Alamitos by four points with 6 minutes, 24 seconds left.

To pull off the upset and hand the Griffins (5-1, 0-1) their first loss of the year, the Sailors needed to go 70 yards and score a touchdown.

Before Newport Harbor’s offense took the field, Brinkley looked at quarterback Austin Rios. The first-year starter remembered what the 56-year-old coach told him earlier in the week.

“To be the leader of your team, you got to make plays,” Brinkley said. “The guys have got to look to you to make plays. It’s not talking. It’s not doing anything else, but being the guy who takes us down [the field] and leads us to victory. That’s how you become a leader.”

Rios grew up on the drive, showing the Sailors are serious about defending their league title shared last year.

In 15 plays, Rios delivered in the clutch, converting two first downs on third-down situations and getting the Sailors inside the red zone. When Rios failed on his final third down, the junior still had one more play.

No chance for a first down, it was touchdown or Brinkley was on his way to losing three straight games, something that’s happened only once in the previous 10 years.

On fourth-and-goal on Los Alamitos’ six, Rios rolled left, to his no-throwing side, and hit wide receiver Parker Norton for a touchdown with 85 seconds left to play. Newport Harbor took a 23-20 lead after Dillan Freiberg’s extra-point kick.

The home side erupted, knowing the odds were stacked against Los Alamitos to score again. The Griffins success was due to meticulously handing Nick Richardson the ball 33 times for 208 yards. Los Alamitos ran out of plays, turning the ball over on downs with 19 seconds left.

“I played the worst first half of my life,” said Rios, who was three for seven passing with 24 yards and an interception at halftime. “I knew we had it the whole way. We had plenty of time. I was so happy when we got that [touchdown]. There’s no better feeling in the world.”

Brinkley felt the goose bumps after defeating the Griffins for the third straight year. The Sailors dumped the water bucket over Brinkley’s head before he noticed it was coming his way. He enjoyed it.

One of the best coaches in county history joined the 200-win club, which Barnes (277), Valencia’s Mike Marrujo (239), Mission Viejo’s Bob Johnson (236), Orange’s Dick Hill (213), Pacifica’s Bill Craven (212), Irvine’s Terry Henigan (216) and Mater Dei’s Bruce Rollinson (203) are a part of as coaches.

Out of the eight, Brinkley is one of four coaches who can say he accomplished the feat at one school. Instead of taking credit for No. 200, Brinkley thanked those who have been instrumental in his success at Newport Harbor, where he is 200-80-3.

“It’s the players and coaches,” said Brinkley, naming his assistants, from Bill Brown, who’s been with Brinkley from the start in 1986, to Tony Ciarelli, a defensive coordinator, who has been at Brinkley’s side for 16 years. “It’s been an emotional week for us. We’ve been struggling. This is for the program. I can’t tell you how proud I am.”

Brinkley has 200 ways to say how much.

Newport Harbor 23, Los Alamitos 20

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Los Alamitos 7-6-0-7--20

Newport Harbor 0-13-3-7--23

FIRST QUARTER

LA – Gasser 97 interception return (Boyer kick), 6:12.

SECOND QUARTER

NH – Diller 1 run (Freiberg kick), 8:29.

LA – Boyer 21 FG, 3:04.

NH – Whitaker 54 run (kick failed), 2:33.

LA – Boyer 23 FG, 0:00

THIRD QUARTER

NH – Freiberg 19 FG, 2:18.

FOURTH QUARTER

LA – Fernandez 1 run, (Boyer kick) 6:24.

NH – Norton 6 pass from Rios, (Freiberg kick) 1:25.

INDIVIDUAL RUSHING

LA – N. Richardson, 33-208; Fernandez, 4-23, 1 TD; Cook, 3-8; Small, 1-2; Najm, 1-minus 20.

NH – Whitaker, 20-101, 1 TD; Gomez, 2-4; Diller, 1-1, 1 TD; Rios, 5-minus 14.

INDIVIDUAL PASSING

LA – Cook, 11-19-2, 71.

NH – Rios, 11-19-1, 129, 1 TD.

INDIVIDUAL RECEIVING

LA – S. Richardson, 4-24; Bennett, 1-23; N. Richardson, 3-19; Fielding, 1-4; Gasser, 1-2; Barut, 1-minus 1.

NH – Diller, 2-44; Norton, 4-24, 1 TD; Whitaker, 2-24; Whiteside, 1-19; Aqueveque, 1-12; Gomez, 1-6.