Eagles Step It Up, Stomp the Sailors

All week long, Santa Margarita running back Billy Newman said he had something to prove, that he wanted to step it up in the Division V championship football game.

Well, Newman didn’t just step it up Saturday night at Cal State Fullerton. He stepped around and through and past the Sailors to lead the Eagles to a 38-0 romp over their Sea View League rivals.

Newman carried 20 times for 252 yards, all but 40 of those in a first half that Newport Harbor would just as soon forget. The Sailors surrendered 427 yards in offense to the Eagles. Newman scored on runs of 91 and one yards and had another apparent touchdown run of 91 yards called back because he stepped out of bounds at the 50.

Newman also had 56 yards in kick returns and caught a pass for 20 yards.

Not to be outdone, junior quarterback Carson Palmer passed for three scores and 241 yards. Wide receiver John Minardi scored on touchdown passes of 49 and 38 yards, the former a flea-flicker from Palmer on the opening play of the game.

It was over quickly. Santa Margarita scored all the points it needed in the first half. Newport Harbor could do nothing like it did in the teams’ league meeting earlier this season, when the Sailors stretched the Eagles but lost, 36-22. But that was a different, cautious group of Eagles.

“The kids started believing in themselves, that they could do this,” Santa Margarita Coach Jim Hartigan said. “They believed they could win a CIF title and once they did, they went after it.”

Under heavy pressure, Newport Harbor quarterback Josiah Fredriksen passed for 142 yards, but was sacked eight times, four by defensive lineman Austin Jayred. It was the Eagles’ third consecutive shutout and their first Southern Section title in the school’s 10-year history.

“I never thought it would turn out like this,” Jayred said. “We just went with our usual, the 4-3 defense and lots of stunts and blitzes.”

Lots of stunts and blitzes.

And on the other side of the ball, Newman was putting on a blitz of his own. The 91-yard run tied a school record.

“We came out and hit a few people and the offensive line did a great job of opening up holes,” Newman said.

Hartigan had promised a few trick plays and he didn’t waste any time, opening with the flea-flicker from Palmer to Minardi.

The Eagles held on downs and had an opportunity to score again when Palmer threw a pass 42 yards to an open Billy O’Conner over the middle at the Newport Harbor 20.

O’Conner made several great moves to avoid tacklers, but the ball squirted out of his hands at the three and rolled all the way out of the back of the end zone.

When Palmer got the ball back he wasted little time, hitting wide receiver Ryan Gahagan with a 68-yard touchdown pass.

Newman put the crowd on its feet on Santa Margarita’s next possession. Newman ran 91 yards into the end zone, but the referees ruled he stepped out of bounds at the 50-yard line. When the drive stalled at the Newport Harbor 34, Nick Sparks kicked a 43-yard field goal that just cleared the crossbar.

The next time he touched the ball, Newman made sure he didn’t step out of bounds. He took a handoff from Palmer and burst up the middle. He broke out of the grasp of a would-be tackler and went the rest of the way untouched.

And the onslaught continued. Newman capped a three-play, 29-yard drive with a one-yard run with three minutes 34 seconds left in the half.

Palmer then threw 38 yards to Minardi for another score with 1:04 left before halftime.

“It was a lot easier when we got ahead,” Minardi said. “They might have been down a little, upset. They were getting angry at each other.

Newport Harbor back Ray Ohrel was the workhorse for the Sailors. He carried 25 times for 122 yards.