Prep Friday : Newport Harbor’s Defense Leads Way : Sailors Beat Huntington Beach, 6-0, for Their Second Shutout

For the second consecutive week, the Newport Harbor High School defense was at its best, blanking Huntington Beach, 6-0, Thursday night in nonleague action at Davidson Field in Newport Beach.

Last week the Sailors shut out Corona del Mar, 3-0. The Sailors used a strong overall effort on defense as they limited the Oilers (1-2) to only 38 yards passing and 67 yards on the ground.

Newport Harbor Coach Jeff Brinkley was happy with his team’s play.

“We knew we had to stop their running game and shut down their backs,” he said. “Our defense was penetrating all night.”

The Sailors did little better themselves. Newport Harbor managed only two field goals by senior Sterling Coverly. His first, an 18-yarder, put Newport Harbor (2-1) ahead, 3-0, with 1:18 left in the half.

Huntington Beach also had an early chance to score.

Quarterback Sean Picquelle was stopped short of a first down on the Newport Harbor 29-yard line and the Oilers were forced to turn the ball over on downs.

The Oliers’ offense struggled all night and Picquelle was replaced by Brett Brummett midway through the third quarter. The two quarterbacks combined for 4 of 9 passing for only 38 yards.

Huntington Beach also struggled on the ground. The Oilers’ trio of running backs, who last week ran for more than 300 yards in a 36-19 victory over Bishop Montgomery, did little against Newport Harbor.

Jason McGehee, who had 58 yards in 16 carries, was the leader. Ken Rehling had 1 carry for minus 2 yards and Skip Murray had 5 yards in 6 carries.

Newport Harbor got its second field goal, a 38-yarder early by Coverly, in the fourth quarter. Coverly had missed a 48-yard attempt early in the first quarter.

Newport Harbor’s offense was led by senior Ed Milum, who had 160 yards in 22 carries. He also lost an 81-yard run for a touchdown on a clipping call early in the third quarter.

“Our line blew them off the ball tonight,” Milum said. “They gave us the holes and we just saw daylight.”

Newport Harbor had 239 yards in total offense to Huntington Beach’s 105. Newport Harbor senior Mark Craig, a first-team All-CIF player last season, was triple-teamed most of the game and made only 3 catches for 32 yards.