Sailors lose another one
SAN CLEMENTE — Through the first half, it seemed like Newport Harbor High might not score against San Clemente.
The Sailors avoided their first shutout in three years. They cannot get around playing ranked CIF Southern Section football teams, though.
For the second time in as many weeks, the Sailors faced one of the top programs in the Southwest Division and they couldn’t do much in the first three quarters. They traveled to No. 1 San Clemente and lost, 40-20, on Friday night.
The road the last two games hasn’t been kind to Newport Harbor (2-2), which lost the Battle of the Bay rivalry game to Corona del Mar, 24-3, at Orange Coast College last week. The Sailors return home next week to face Manhattan Beach Mira Costa. But Mira Costa (4-0) is another ranked team, No. 3 in the Western Division.
Newport Harbor Coach Jeff Brinkley hopes the stiff competition in nonleague prepares his team for Sunset League action, which starts at Davidson Field against Fountain Valley on Oct. 8.
The Sailors are going to have to cut down on the turnovers to have a chance to stay in games. They lost a fumble on a bad snap to the punter in the first quarter, setting up San Clemente on the Sailors’ 35-yard line and it resulted in the game’s first score. They turned the ball over on downs inside the opponent’s five-yard line in the second quarter. They threw an interception inside San Clemente’s five-yard line in the third quarter.
“You can’t turn the ball over and we got to control the ball,” Brinkley said. “We turned it over and that just can’t happen.”
The missed opportunities allowed San Clemente quarterback Jack Sears to beat the Sailors with his legs and right arm. The junior rushed 10 times for 100 yards and four touchdowns, and he completed 14 of 25 passes for 161 yards and two touchdowns.
Sears’ lone mistake was a pass he forced near the one that linebacker Dalton Rosene picked off midway through the second quarter. By then, San Clemente already led, 14-0.
San Clemente’s offense ran past the Sailors in the opening quarter. The hosts’ first eight carries produced 138 yards and two touchdowns, both scores coming on runs by Sears. He appeared to go untouched on the 35-yard touchdown and on the 28-yard touchdown.
The Tritons had the ball four times in the opening quarter. Their fourth possession stalled deep in their own end, thanks to Newport Harbor linebacker Gage Roberson stuffing a run for a one-yard loss and Rosene stopping a screen for a four-yard loss. Newport Harbor forced a punt early in the second quarter, and the Sailors got great field position.
Newport Harbor started on the Tritons’ 36 and quarterback Michael Bonds moved the offense to the four. The junior didn’t have the services of his top target, Jack Rapillo, who missed the game with a foot injury, so Bonds, who finished 15 of 32 for 172 yards and an interception, went elsewhere with the ball.
Bonds completed an 11-yard pass to receiver Vinnie Bartolone and a 13-yard pass to running back Cole Kinder. The pass that he was unable to complete was the one that got the Sailors inside the five-yard line, as a defensive pass interference call kept the drive alive.
Bonds couldn’t find another receiver on third down, and Newport Harbor went for it on fourth down. Bonds’ pass was broken up in the back of the end zone and San Clemente took over on downs.
“We’ve got to become more efficient in the red zone offensively,” said Brinkley, who saw Roberson break the shutout bid with a one-yard touchdown in the third quarter, and late in the fourth, Bonds rushed for a one-yard touchdown and a four-yard touchdown. “It’s two weeks in a row we’ve gone down there and failed to score [a touchdown in the second quarter].”
In the final 2½ minutes of the first half, Sears used his arm to burn Newport Harbor. He hit Brandon Reaves on a quick pass that Reaves turned up field for a 20-yard touchdown. With 51 seconds left before halftime, Sears gave San Clemente a 26-0 lead, rushing for a 13-yard touchdown.
Sears’ run wasn’t the most impressive one of the night. The run prior to Sears’ third rushing touchdown was by tailback Vlad Dzhabiyev. Faced with a first-and-28 on San Clemente’s 11, Dzhabiyev ripped a 76-yard run.
By halftime, Dzhabiyev, who hadn’t recorded a 100-yard game on the ground through the first four weeks, totaled 171 rushing yards. He needed only 10 carries to amass that amount, while Sears topped the 100-yard mark for the second time this year, doing so on six carries by halftime. Half of them went for touchdowns.
Sears and the Tritons (4-1) travel to Tesoro (4-1) next week, in a matchup featuring two highly ranked teams, Tesoro is No. 3 in the West Valley Division. The Sailors know all about seeing ranked teams. The latest one outrushed the Sailors, 336-94.
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San Clemente 40, Newport Harbor 20
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Newport Harbor 0 – 0 – 6 – 14 — 20
San Clemente 14 – 12 – 7 – 7 — 40
FIRST QUARTER
SC – Sears 35 run (Berman kick), 7:26.
SC – Sears 28 run (Berman kick), 4:19.
SECOND QUARTER
SC – Reaves 20 pass from Sears (kick failed), 2:26.
SC – Sears 13 run (kick failed), :51.
THIRD QUARTER
NH – Roberson 1 run (run failed), 7:38.
SC – Reaves 13 pass from Sears (Trager kick), 4:47.
FOURTH QUARTER
SC – Sears 6 run (Trager kick), 7:53.
NH – Bonds 1 run (Blake kick), 3:37.
NH – Bonds 4 run (Blake kick), :59.
INDIVIDUAL RUSHING
NH – Kinder, 23-83.
SC – Dzhabiyev, 11-171.
INDIVIDUAL PASSING
NH – Bonds, 15-32-1, 172.
SC – Sears, 14-25-1, 161, 2 TDs.
INDIVIDUAL RECEIVING
NH – Rutter, 5-42.
SC – Reaves, 5-56, 2 TDs.
