ORANGE COUNTY PREP FOOTBALL : Sea View League : Therien-Led Saddleback Tops Newport Harbor

When the Saddleback High School football team came out of the locker room at halftime Friday night, homecoming fireworks were exploding in the sky above Newport Harbor High School’s Davidson Field.

The Saddleback players glanced in the air, shrugged and started to stretch.

And the Roadrunners continued to ignore Newport Harbor’s airs on their way to a 24-6 Sea View League victory.

Though Sailors’ quarterback David Summers completed 17 of 29 passes for 160 yards, Saddleback (4-3, 2-0) won by shutting down Newport Harbor’s running game and launching its own offense.

“We wanted to contain (Tom) Walker,” Saddleback Coach Jerry Witte said.

Last week, Walker had moved from fullback to tailback to compensate for the injured Scot Morency and had rushed for 201 yards and 2 touchdowns in the Sailors’ 27-7 victory over Estancia.

Against Saddleback, Walker was held to 18 yards rushing, although he did have 7 receptions for 41 yards.

While Newport Harbor (5-2, 1-1) was forced to rely nearly exclusively on its passing game, Saddleback had a more balanced attack. Quarterback Sean Therien completed 6 of 9 passes for 72 yards, ran the option, and handed off to Hymie Thurmond, who rushed for 119 yards in 19 carries.

Therien put on a one-man show in the first quarter, providing the highlight of the Roadrunners’ 75-yard, 13-play touchdown drive with a lateral pass to Thurmond for a 24-yard gain. On the next play, Juan Valle scored on a one-yard run.

Therien stopped Newport Harbor’s subsequent possession with an interception of Summers’ pass at the Sailors’ 20-yard line. Five plays later, Therien scored on a two-yard run. Carlos Zavala’s conversion kick gave the Roadrunners a 14-0 lead at the end of the first period.

Newport Harbor was most effective in the second quarter when Summers passed for 110 yards, but a missed extra-point kick and a missed field goal allowed Saddleback to keep the momentum going into the half. Newport Harbor’s only touchdown came on the 16th play of a 79-yard drive, when Summers threw a 16-yard pass to Jason Johnson in the end zone. Jeff Jacobs’ extra-point kick was wide to the left. Newport Harbor quickly stopped Saddleback, got the ball back and advanced to the Saddleback 20, but Jacobs’ 37-yard field goal attempt was wide, leaving the halftime score at 14-6.

Saddleback started strong in the third quarter, marching to the Sailors’ four, before Randy Farr sacked Therien, who lost the ball. Dave Tullar recovered, but Newport Harbor wasn’t able to cash in on the turnover. Saddleback got the ball back and moved to the 11, where Zavala kicked a 29-yard field goal.

Both teams had trouble on the muddy field in the fourth quarter. Zavala’s punt with 1:33 left to play forced Newport Harbor to start its last-gasp drive from its own 4-yard line. Summers, dropping back in the pocket, fumbled the ball and Darrell Gipson recovered for Saddleback’s final touchdown of the game.

Corona del Mar 22, University 18--Quarterback Mitch Melbon threw a 12-yard touchdown pass to Jeff Thomason with 35 seconds left to lift Corona del Mar to a victory at Orange Coast College.

On the winning drive, which began with 1:53 remaining, Corona del Mar drove 78 yards on 7 plays. The key play of the drive was a 14-yard pass from Melbon to Jeff Clark, which advanced the ball to the University 12.

University (3-4, 0-2) had taken an 18-15 lead on Jim Roberson’s 18-yard touchdown run with 1:53 left.

Corona del Mar (2-5, 1-1) took a 15-12 lead on a one-yard run by Matt Patterson with 4:41 remaining.

The Trojans led, 12-7, on David Liebke’s six-yard run with three minutes remaining in the third quarter, but the two-point conversion failed when quarterback Junior Oliver was stopped short on a run.

University grabbed the early lead when Roberson kicked two field goals, a 29-yarder in the first quarter and a 43-yarder in the second, but the Sea Kings moved ahead on a seven-yard touchdown pass from Melbon to John Katovsich with 15 seconds left in the half.

Tustin 12, Estancia 7--George Menges threw a 43-yard touchdown pass to Scott Pulaski in the fourth quarter that lifted the Tillers past the Eagles at Tustin High’s Northrup Field.

It was Pulaski’s only catch of the game. Tustin is 5-2 overall and 2-0 in the league.

“Estancia had one guy covering two and we just tried to throw it over him,” said Tustin Coach Marijon Ancich.

Estancia (2-5, 0-2) scored first on a 15-yard pass from quarterback Todd Brooks to Seth Kolasinski in the second quarter. Richard Quirk’ conversion gave Estancia a 7-0 lead with 8:24 left in the half.

Tustin scored on a 22-yard pass from Menges to Marshall Eddy with 46 seconds left in the first half but the kick was wide to the right.

Estancia had a chance to win the game with 4:25 left; the Eagles had a first down on the Tustin 26-yard line.

But consecutive sacks by Tustin defensive linemen Noah Elias and Jason Lavin on third and fourth down gave the Tillers the ball on downs.