Kinder revitalizes Newport Harbor’s rushing attack
Cole Kinder is one of those football players Newport Harbor High Coach Jeff Brinkley refers to as a throwback. When he makes a big play or scores a touchdown as a running back, the junior hands the ball to the referee and goes about his business.
However, it wasn’t business as usual for Kinder last week.
In the last couple of years, the Sailors have mostly aired the ball out because they had quarterback Cole Norris. They turned back the clock at Pico Rivera El Rancho, handing the ball to Kinder 34 times and he rushed for 304 yards, the third-best single-game mark in Newport Harbor history.
Kinder had no idea he amassed that many yards on the ground after the Sailors won the nonleague game, 33-21, but he said he felt super-sore. The following day he learned that he rushed for three different totals.
“I heard 311, 304 and 287,” Kinder said. “I go with the highest one.”
The rushing record holder at Newport Harbor is the late Andre Stewart, who racked up 310 yards 16 years ago. Back then, the Sailors were a run-oriented team and they used to pound one team in particular every season.
The same year Stewart ran wild on Laguna Hills in 1999 Newport Harbor beat archrival Corona del Mar, 35-3. The win was the start of seven straight against CdM in the annual Battle of the Bay game, and the Sailors went on to win 13 of the next 14 against the Sea Kings.
Kinder and the Sailors (2-0) face CdM (2-1) on Thursday in the 54th edition of the rivalry. The contest is at Orange Coast College and kickoff is at 7:30 p.m.
Kinder knows history is on Newport Harbor’s side whenever it plays CdM, owning a 38-15 edge.
“Ever since I was like 6 months old or 3 months old, I’ve been coming to [Newport Harbor’s] games,” Kinder said.
Kinder has his family to thank for taking him to see the Sailors at an early age.
Kinder’s brother, Adam, played for Newport Harbor, before he graduated in 2012. Kinder’s mother, Erin, and uncle, Tony Bartolic, are also Newport Harbor graduates, Erin was a cheerleader and Bartolic played football for the Sailors.
Bartolic didn’t suit up for Brinkley, having graduated in 1979. Brinkley began coaching Newport Harbor in 1986.
During Brinkley’s time with the Sailors, they have only lost consecutive games twice to CdM, at the beginning, from 1986-88, and the last two years. Kinder is trying to stop the Sea Kings from winning three in a row again.
“It’s kind of a strange game because most of those kids we know personally,” Kinder said. “We grow up with them. I’m friends with a lot of the guys. Even though Thursday night we might not consider each other friends, after the game we’re friends. It’s one of those things [where] we’ll root for them when they’re not playing us, and I’m sure they do the same thing. When we play each other, we hate each other. There’s no denying that, but after the game we love each other.”
Early this week, Kinder spent time with a former CdM player, Christopher Bartolic. The two are cousins. They talked about the game, and even though Bartolic no longer plays football for the Sea Kings, he plays soccer and baseball now, Kinder said his cousin felt torn.
“He wants CdM to win because he goes to CdM and he played for them,” Kinder said, “but he wants me to do well.”
Kinder performed at his best last week. The 6-foot-1, 195-pounder ran past and through El Rancho’s defense, scoring on touchdowns of 22 and one yards, and producing runs of 43, 34, 29, 23 and 20 yards.
If you ask Kinder the keys to his success, he credits those blocking for him. Kinder is humble, and he would rather have left tackle Joey Stukonis, left guard Blake Terry, center Elliott Frye, right guard Michael Jarboe and right tackle Max Spruill, and backup linemen Matthew Torres and John Lamas, as well as tight end Kobe Benter and fullback Jamie McNeil highlighted before him.
Those are the players responsible for Kinder’s big night, and he piled up many of those yards against an eight-man front. Quarterback Michael Bonds’ 125-yard and three-touchdown performance also helped keep El Rancho honest.
“He really got back into his groove … and running the ball like he did last year,” Brinkley said of Kinder, who in nine games last season rushed 130 times for 872 yards and four touchdowns. “He’s a good example of our program. He’s a hard worker in practice. That is the most impressive thing about him. Every time he touches the ball in practice, he’ll take it to the end zone. He’s one of those guys you almost have to say, ‘Take it easy. Slow it down.’”
There was no slowing down Kinder last week.
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Cole Kinder
Born: Aug. 23, 1998
Hometown: Newport Beach
Height: 6-foot-1
Weight: 195 pounds
Sport: Football
Year: Junior
Coach: Jeff Brinkley
Favorite food: Steak
Favorite movie: “Undercover Brother”
Favorite athletic moment: Newport Harbor’s 49-48 upset of top-seeded La Habra in the quarterfinals of the CIF Southern Section Southwest Division playoffs in 2013.
Week in review: Kinder rushed 34 times for 304 yards and two touchdowns in the Sailors’ 33-21 nonleague win at Pico Rivera El Rancho.
