Virgen: Seniors made great impact on Newport Harbor football

To the outsider, the recent Newport Harbor High football awards banquet might seem cliché. The Sailors made the playoffs again, the 23rd time in Coach Jeff Brinkley’s 29 years. There was high praise for and support from everyone involved.

There didn’t seem to be any outsiders at the Harborside Restaurant in Newport Beach. The NHHS football program even invited the media, yours truly, and made me feel like one of the Sailor family, a part of Tar Ball.

But even if the feeling wasn’t welcoming and if you were an outsider it would have been easy to see that Feb. 2 was a meaningful night to honor a football team that featured a special senior group.

They had several great accomplishments, including their contributions to reaching the CIF Southern Section Southwest Division championship game in 2013, their junior year.

But greater than the feats was the brotherhood and strong bond formed among the seniors. That was especially evident in Newport Harbor’s six senior captains: Cole Norris, Trevor Shaw, Brett Beaudette, Keaton Cablay, Riley Gaddis and Chance Siemonsma.

Each of the Sailors’ seniors have their own story. They all battled adversity. That was unfortunately true for Siemonsma, the tailback who suffered a season-ending injury.

But the seniors were there for each other throughout their time at Newport Harbor.

“We’ve been through so much together,” Shaw said of the seniors. “When we walked onto the field our freshman year we all knew each other a little bit through random friends. It’s just been amazing to grow up with these guys because I feel each one of the six of us have made each other better throughout our time, not only in football. I would say barely in football. More importantly we’ve made each other better people and we made each other more mature. We’ve just become kind of inseparable. It’s wonderful to be a part of something like that.”

Collins also said the bond the seniors share is strong. They also welcomed seniors who made their debut on the varsity team, like Ben Bockrath and Booker Hoey. Michael Schultz was much needed as a kicker and punter.

Morgan Sanchez was quite the character, while Colin Rowe, Taylor Guerrero and Josh Perez also made strong contributions.

Injuries mounted for the 2014 Sailors, which made reaching the playoffs all the more rewarding.

At Newport Harbor, there is a team picture for each of the squads that have reached the playoffs, Shaw said. The seniors did not want to be that one team that did not make the playoffs.

“For a while it was tough,” Shaw said of the season. “But I don’t think there was ever a worry. We knew we could do it, we just had to go out and grab it.”

Shaw was one of four seniors to receive a scholarship award at the banquet. Shaw, who is headed to play football at the University of Chicago, was awarded the John Gust Scholarship.

Gaddis received the Vince Mulroy Scholarship Award, that also included a beautiful trophy that resembled the Heisman.

Beaudette took home the Kamble Chai Scholarship and Cablay the Cade Feitler Schloarship.

Norris, who will play for Northern Arizona, was named the team MVP.

“It’s been a great run with all of them,” Norris said. “These guys are brothers for life.”