Newport Harbor Gets Angry; Magnolia Gets Routed, 42-21

Magnolia High School, an wild-card entry in the Central Conference playoffs, had the great misfortune of meeting top-seeded Newport Harbor on an evening when the Sailors were angry.

The Sailors weren’t mad at Magnolia, mind you, but at the world in general following last week’s upset loss to rival Corona del Mar.

Newport Harbor nonetheless vented its anger at the Sentinels and the end result was a 42-21 first-round playoff victory for the Sailors at Davidson Field before 2,500 fans Friday night.

Led by Shane Foley and Steve Shepard, the Sailors scored five first-half touchdowns to take a 35-0 lead and then cruised to the win.

Foley threw touchdown passes of 35, 15, and 4 yards and Steve Shepard intercepted three passes to highlight the rout. The Sailors led, 42-0, late in the game before the Sentinels could score three touchdowns against Newport Harbor’s second-string defense.

Newport Harbor Coach Mike Giddings was pleased with the result.

“The Sailors got mad tonight,” Giddings said. “They caught us on a night when we were angry. It was a week of soul-searching following the Corona game--’Could we bounce back?’ ”

Despite the lopsided score, Giddings had nothing but praise for the Sentinels, who finished their season 7-4.

“At halftime, our kids said that this was one of the hardest hitting teams we’d played all year,” Giddings said. “They’re superbly coached and they played hard. They deserved to make the playoffs.”

But it was the Sailors who deserved to advance to the second round, where they will meet La Mirada next week.

La Mirada will have to come up with a defense to at least slow down the passing of Foley, who completed 12 of 15 passes for 222 yards.

“Decision-wise, Foley was at his best tonight,” Giddings said. “I’d be hard-pressed to find any errors. We faced a first-and-15 or a second-and-over-10 (yards to go) situation six times in the first half and we converted every time.”

Wide receiver Mark Craig led Newport Harbor receivers with 6 catches for 75 yards and 2 touchdowns.