High School Football: Sailors reclaim venue
Newport Harbor High won’t have to play all of its home football games this year outside of Davidson Field after all.
Mike Zimmerman, the school athletic director, said the Sailors got permission from the Newport-Mesa Unified School District on Wednesday to play their first four home contests at Davidson Field because the upcoming $8.5-million renovation to the stadium won’t begin until Oct. 26. The Sailors had initially scheduled three of those home games at Jim Scott Stadium and one at Orange Coast College.
The Sailors’ lone home game away will be the regular-season finale against Edison at Orange Coast College on Nov. 6. They kick off the season at Davidson Field against Rialto Eisenhower on Sept. 3.
The season opener was set to be at Jim Scott Stadium, and Newport Harbor had scheduled a scrimmage with Estancia on Friday at 10 a.m. to prepare for the facility and artificial turf. The scrimmage is still on, even though the Sailors won’t play at Jim Scott Stadium during the regular season.
“Coach [Jeff] Brinkley said it’s better to be playing at home than having to travel for our all of our home games,” said Zimmerman, adding that the grass playing surface at Davidson Field isn’t too bad. “We just have to mow it and water it.”
Brinkley, who’s entering his 30th season in charge of the Sailors, said on Friday morning that it’s always advantageous for Newport Harbor to play in front of its loyal fan base. The players are excited about playing on campus, said Tom Kinder, Newport Harbor’s football booster president.
“Word spread like a wildfire,” said Kinder, adding that the two lower-level programs will either play their home games on Davidson Field or on the school’s practice field.
The home varsity dates at Davidson Field are Oct. 2 against Mira Costa, Oct. 8 against Fountain Valley, and Oct. 22 against Los Alamitos.
Four days after facing Los Alamitos, Zimmerman hopes construction can begin on Davidson Field, which is expected to be ready for the 2016 season.
Twitter: @DCPenaloza
