PREP FOOTBALL ROUNDUP

In a Sea View League game:

Newport Harbor 24, University 21--Newport Harbor High School Coach Jeff Brinkley thinks his players might have learned some valuable lessons in the league opener at Irvine High.

The Sailors were trailing 15-0 in the second quarter and then scored the next 24 points to improve their record to 5-1. University is 2-4 overall.

“We had a little success early on in the season,” Brinkley said. “Maybe it came too easy for our kids. But I think they learned their lesson, and we still won the ball game. Sometimes you learn your lessons and lose the ball game.”

Newport Harbor’s rally was keyed by tailback Todd Farley, who carried 25 times for 157 yards. Farley’s 17-yard touchdown sprint in the third quarter was followed by a two-point conversion that tied the game at 15.

Newport took the lead late in the quarter when quarterback Stephen Scheck (11 of 17 for 120 yards) hit a wide-open Matt White for a 45-yard touchdown. Newport Harbor’s first touchdown came on Ryan Abbey’s 1-yard plunge just before halftime.

University had built its 15-0 lead on a 35-yard field goal by David Jacobson and two touchdown passes by Brian Vail (73 yards to wingback Victor Davis and six yards to Thad Machnikowski). The Trojans scored with 3:50 remaining in the game on Marc Walker’s 1-yard run, but their final drive fell flat.

Brinkley’s halftime talk with his players might have sparked the Sailors’ comeback. “I just told them that if we’re gonna have a shot at a league championship, then we’ve got to make up an eight-point deficit,” he said. “They responded.”