SOUTHERN SECTION FOOTBALL PLAYOFFS : Newport Harbor Flies Friendly Skies, 35-14

As Newport Harbor High School grew weary of a nine-man defensive front Friday night in its Division VI playoff game, the Sailors had a passing fancy.

Quarterback Mike Ofer went to the air for Newport Harbor, passing for 203 yards as the Sailors breezed to a 35-14 victory over Buena Park in front of 2,200 fans at Buena Park High.

The victory moves Newport Harbor (7-4) into the quarterfinals next week, when it will play host to top-seeded Valencia (11-0). Buena Park, playing host to its first-ever playoff game, finished 8-2-1.

Ofer completed 20 of 29 pass attempts and engineered three scoring drives as Newport Harbor was never seriously threatened. Newport Harbor also recovered a fumble for a touchdown and intercepted a pass for another in its most one-sided win of the season.

“I told our wide receivers in practice yesterday that we’re going to have to win with our skilled-position players,” said Newport Harbor Coach Jeff Brinkley. “We got back to the things we had originally planned to do this season tonight.”

Ofer had missed four games earlier this season, so the Sailors went to a ground game with Brandon Finney carrying most of the offense. Finney had three touchdowns against Buena Park, but it was Ofer’s ball-control passing attack that won the game.

“I thought Mike did a great job of reading their defensive coverages and completing the short passes,” Brinkley said. “If teams are going to pack eight- and nine-man fronts, we have to do what we did tonight.”

What Newport Harbor did was repeatedly line up receivers Branon Coluccio, Chad LaBass and Aaron McKown on the same side of the line. Ofer sent two of the receivers over the middle and one was generally open for eight- to ten-yard gains.

Coluccio caught seven passes for 82 yards and a touchdown; LaBass caught five passes for 52 yards, and McKown caught five passes for 49 yards. Ofer was seldom pressured and didn’t throw an interception in a near-perfect performance.

“Mike continues to get better every week,” Brinkley said. “He hasn’t thrown an interception in his last four games, and he’s just now becoming the quality quarterback we thought he was going to be all along.”

Unfortunately, Buena Park found the air route a little more crowded. Quarterback Geno Robles threw two interceptions, including one from his own four-yard line with 4:53 remaining in the first half. Newport Harbor defensive back Wade Tift returned it 29 yards for a touchdown.

Tift’s touchdown gave Newport Harbor a 14-6 lead and seemed to turn the game around after Buena Park had piled up some rushing yards rushing in the first half. Afterward, Buena Park Coach Marty Luczaj was disappointed with his team’s performance.

“We didn’t play very well offensively or defensively,” Luczaj said. “I don’t know why, but we just didn’t play very well.”

Although Buena Park lost three fumbles and had two passes intercepted, the Coyotes did have their share of moments.

Running back Angel Barrios rushed for 110 yards in 20 carries and scored a touchdown. Wide receiver Chris Stone caught seven passes for 107 yards, including a 35-yard pass for a touchdown in the first quarter that gave Buena Park its only lead, 6-0.