Newport Kicker Coberly Is Having a Sterling Career

Another day of football practice is concluding at Newport Harbor High School and that means kicker Sterling Coberly will finally take the field.

Coberly patiently watches from the sidelines as quarterback Kirk Summers directs the Sailors’ offense in a two-minute drill covering 80 yards. Summers throws a 15-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Mark Craig to beat the clock and Coberly trots onto the field to kick an extra point.

He measures the customary seven yards from the line of scrimmage, plants his kicking tee and then takes two steps to his left. The ball is snapped, Coberly winds up and delivers a high, booming kick that goes straight through the uprights.

The kick is good, but assistant coach Bucko Shaw blows his whistle. “This man didn’t have his mouthpiece on, that’s 15 yards,” says Shaw, playing the role of an official. “The kick goes over.”

Shaw measures 15 yards and this time Coberly sets up for a 33-yard PAT. He sends another high kick straight through the goal posts. “I had to give him some kind of a challenge,” Shaw explained.

Coberly has been meeting the challenge for three years at Newport Harbor. He has kicked 22 field goals since his sophomore season, including a personal best of 42 yards to beat Saddleback, 24-21, last year in a showdown for first place in the Sea View League.

Pressure doesn’t seem to bother Coberly. He proved to be poised when he kicked a 36-yard field goal with three seconds remaining to tie Saddleback, 26-26, in his sophomore season.

“I like the pressure situations,” Coberly said. “I know I shouldn’t say this, but there are times I’m on the sideline kind of wishing that the offense gets held up on third down so I’ll get a chance to kick a field goal.

“I figure I’ve got two seconds on the field. That’s my only contribution. If I miss, I didn’t do my part. I just want to feel like I’m part of the team.”

Coberly has had one memorable miss. He hooked a 22-yard attempt wide against Corona del Mar with 30 seconds remaining in a 15-14 loss last year. Because of the defeat, the Sailors had to share the league title with Saddleback.

And Coberly had to live with the fact that he had failed against rival Corona del Mar.

“That was the worst,” he said. “I was razzed by friends at Corona the rest of the year. It was the lowest point of our season. When I kicked the ball, I didn’t even bother to lift my head. I knew by the way it felt that I had missed it.

“Everybody thought it was automatic, and I did, too. I had a bad feeling going out on the field, like I almost knew I was going to miss. I’d love to get another chance against Corona this year.”

Coberly is off to a fine start in 1986. He has kicked six field goals, including two in a 6-0 victory over Huntington Beach. He has been a stabilizing factor for an offense that has struggled without record-setting quarterback Shane Foley, now at USC.

“Shane Foley threw for a lot of touchdowns last year, so I kicked a lot more extra points than field goals,” Coberly said. “Last year, I attempted nine field goals. This year, I had already tried nine in four games.”

Coberly has twice attempted 46-yard kicks this year, but both were short. He said he has kicked 55-yarders in practice and is waiting for another chance to try a long kick in a game.

“I think I can kick that far,” he said. “For two years, long distances psyched me out. But I know I can do it now.”

Back problems have plagued Coberly this year. He pinched a nerve during summer workouts and has received several cortisone injections to relieve the pain. The injury ended his aspirations of playing wide receiver.

“I was starting in spring football and really looking forward to contributing more to the team as a receiver,” he said. “But the pain got so bad, I couldn’t even run during conditioning week in August.

“So, I’m a full-time kicker. I try to get in some hits on the kickoffs because that’s as much action as I’m going to see.”

Jeff Brinkley, the Sailors’ first-year coach, said Coberly has been so consistent that he lets him to practice on his own.

“I put him down at one end of the field, and we go to the other end,” Brinkley said. “I don’t want to screw up a good thing. I’m smart enough to stay away.

“Sterling has been very solid for us. He’s got confidence which comes from being successful in pressure situations for three years.”