Football Player of the Week: Rutter Sailors’ top target

Reed Rutter isn’t the fastest or biggest wide receiver, but he can sure get open.

Rutter has become Newport Harbor High’s top target since wideout Jack Rapillo went down with a foot injury in the third game of the season. Seven weeks later, Rutter has kept the Sailors’ CIF Southern Section West Valley Division playoff hopes alive.

In a must-win situation last week on the road, Rutter finished with six catches for 142 yards and two touchdowns in the Sailors’ 60-35 win against Marina at Westminster High.

The Sailors enter their Sunset League finale in need of another win to stay in the playoff picture. They close out the regular season at home Friday against Edison, which is undefeated in league.

The Chargers have also been perfect against Newport Harbor in their last 10 meetings. Rutter said the Sailors have to find a way to top Edison for the first time in 36 years.

“We’re treating it like a playoff game,” Rutter said. “Win or go home.

“We have to win if we want a shot to go to the playoffs.”

The Sailors can advance to the postseason in two ways, as the third-place team out of league or as an at-large entry. Either way, they have to upset Edison (6-3, 4-0 in league), ranked No. 6 in the West Valley Division, to be considered for either of the two options.

Newport Harbor (4-5, 2-2) shares third place in league with Los Alamitos (4-5, 2-2), but the Griffins hold the head-to-head tiebreaker. Los Alamitos’ road to claiming the league’s third-and-final guaranteed playoff berth is much easier. On Friday, the Griffins play Marina, which suffered its 55th straight setback in league last week.

Rutter played a vital role to keeping Marina’s losing streak in league intact.

The Sailors got off to a strong start against the Vikings, taking a 7-0 lead. The first touchdown in the game went to Rutter on a 17-yard pass from quarterback Michael Bonds. A little more than three minutes in, Newport Harbor led for the first time in the opening quarter of a game since the second game of the season.

The Sailors added another score almost six minutes later. Bonds connected with receiver Vinnie Bartolone on an 18-yard touchdown pass.

Bonds continued to air it out. On the Sailors’ first possession in the second quarter, he threw a 39-yard pass to Rutter, who dove to make the catch inside the opponent’s 20-yard line. Two plays later, Bonds went to Rutter again and this one resulted in a 15-yard touchdown pass.

Midway through the second quarter, the Sailors led, 21-7. They tacked on another touchdown right before halftime, and Bonds and Rutter put the offense in position to do so.

The duo hooked up twice during the eight-play, 91-yard scoring drive. A wide-open Rutter easily hauled in a 20-yard pass, and on the following play, Bonds threw a 32-yard strike into double coverage, hitting Rutter in stride.

“It was a perfect throw,” Rutter said of the pass that set the Sailors up on Marina’s eight with 68 seconds to go.

Rutter wouldn’t catch another pass in the second half. No one else would either, as Bonds, who completed 11 of 15 passes for 195 yards and three touchdowns, didn’t complete a pass in the final two quarters.

The Sailors didn’t have to throw the ball after Cole Kinder’s two-yard touchdown helped put Newport Harbor ahead, 28-7, with 37 seconds left in the first half. The Sailors went to Kinder the rest of the way and he delivered.

Kinder recorded 158 of his 284 rushing yards in the second half, including two touchdowns on the ground, giving him three on the night. On special teams, Kinder produced his fourth touchdown on a 95-yard kickoff return.

“He has been there all year for us,” Rutter said of Kinder, who has rushed 205 times for 1,199 yards and nine touchdowns in his junior season.

Bonds said the same thing about being able to count on Rutter ever since losing Rapillo.

“Jack was our go-to guy,” Bonds said, “but Reed has filled that role for us.”

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Reed Rutter

Born: July 23, 1998

Hometown: Newport Beach

Height: 5-foot-11

Weight: 165 pounds

Sport: Football

Year: Senior

Coach: Jeff Brinkley

Favorite food: Enchiladas

Favorite movie: “The Avengers”

Favorite athletic moment: “Scoring the touchdown to send the Huntington Beach game to overtime, and then eventually winning that game.”

Week in review: Rutter finished with six catches for 142 yards and two touchdowns in the Sailors’ 60-35 win against Marina at Westminster High.