With Revenge in Mind, Newport Harbor Shuts Out Saddleback
It didn’t start that way, but Newport Harbor eventually cranked up its traditional running game and defeated Saddleback, 22-0, Friday in a Sea View League game at Santa Ana Stadium.
The stakes were anything but high. No matter what happened, Newport Harbor (8-2, 5-2 in league) was assured of a playoff spot and Saddleback (3-7, 2-5) was assured of playing its final game of the season.
Newport Harbor Coach Jeff Brinkley spoke of playing to avenge the Sailors’ loss to Saddleback last season and to cap a successful regular season. But the only tangible result of the Sailors’ victory is they will be the second-place team from the Sea View League for playoff seeding purposes.
With that as motivation, Newport Harbor and Saddleback turned in an underwhelming first half, playing to a 0-0 tie.
Saddleback had managed only 45 yards and three first downs by the half. Newport Harbor had a bit more success--130 yards and eight first downs--but had only failed field-goal attempts of 47 and 48 yards to show for it.
“We didn’t know what was happening,” Newport Harbor running back Wade Tift said. “We weren’t playing as a team. It seemed as if one guy wasn’t blocking on every play. In the second half everybody blocked.”
Those blocks unleashed Tift on the Saddleback secondary, which proved to be quite a mismatch. Twice, Tift ran through huge holes off-tackle and ran for long touchdowns. His touchdowns went for 35 and 44 yards and the second gave Newport Harbor a 14-0 lead with 11 minutes 25 seconds left in the fourth quarter.
“It was perfect blocking,” Tift said. “I just had to run. Anyone could have run through that hole.”
Tift, a 6-foot-1, 185-pound junior, finished with a career-high 219 yards--151 of them in the second half--in 31 carries. He surpassed the 1,000 mark for the season and now has 1,098.
Newport Harbor had attempted to get a passing game going with poor results in the first half, but quarterback Greg Williams attempted only two passes in the second half. It was a wise strategy as the Sailors’ line seemed to wear the Roadrunners down.
Bill Brandon capped Newport Harbor’s scoring with a seven-yard run with 4:11 remaining.
The Sailors’ defense got stronger as the game progressed, holding Saddleback to only 13 yards total offense in the second half.
Linebacker Steve Gonzalez was a major part of the Sailors’ defensive push. He sacked Saddleback quarterback Danny Ruvolo three times. On the third sack, Ruvolo was in the end zone and the safety gave Newport Harbor an 8-0 lead early in the fourth quarter.