Close Shave for Newport Harbor in Crucial 8-7 Victory

Newport Harbor Coach Jeff Brinkley lost a mustache but gained a trip to the Southern Section Division VI playoffs.

Brinkley told his players that if they beat Sea View League rival Corona del Mar Friday, he would shave his big mustache. The Sailors complied with an 8-7 victory over the two-time defending league champion Sea Kings.

“I’ll gladly shave this to go to the playoffs,” Brinkley said.

“This is a great win, one of the biggest in the year,” he said. “And this is my group. I came in when they were freshmen; not a day goes by that I don’t enjoy going to practice.”

Newport Harbor (7-3, 3-2) last went to the playoffs in 1987 and lost to Pacifica in the second round.

“Every one of us wanted to play next week,” Sailor quarterback Stephen Scheck said. The 6-foot, 183-pound senior completed 18 of 25 passes for 148 yards and the team’s lone touchdown.

The winning play came after Newport Harbor’s touchdown with four seconds left in the third quarter. The Sailors lined up to kick the extra point, but running back Wayne Fraser picked up the snap and ran in for the two points that eventually made the difference.

“We’ve had that play for so long,” Scheck said. “This was probably the second time we’ve used it in three years. It was just great that the play worked when we needed it. It couldn’t have happened in a better game.”

Newport Harbor’s defense stopped Corona del Mar’s last-minute scoring attempt, holding the Sea Kings on the 27-yard line. With nine seconds left in the game, running back Jerrott Willard’s 44-yard field goal attempt went wide to the left, and pandemonium ensued.

“It was a great game,” Corona del Mar Coach Dave Holland said. “We had our chances. We had mental lapses, and that’s the game. I think it evened up--penalties, everything. We had our shot; we just came up short.”