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Program Profile: NEWPORT HARBOR

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First season: 1931. Newport Harbor is the ninth oldest school in the county.

All-time record: 378-276-28 in 70 seasons.

League history: Freelance, 1931; Orange, 1932-36; Sunset, 1937-63; Freeway, 1964-65; Irvine, 1966; Sunset, 1967-80; Sea View, 1981-2000.

League titles: Sunset, 1942, ‘70, ‘73, ‘74; Sea View, 1983, ‘84, ‘85, ‘94, ’99

Playoff records: 35-18 in 21 appearances (Division V champion in 1994; Division VI champion in 1999).

Great Teams

A selection of top teams from Newport Harbor’s football history:

1942--Newport Harbor may have fielded its finest team during World War II. The Sailors were experienced and big, led by fullback Harold Sheflin, who at 210 pounds was far bigger than most linemen, and outscored nine regular-season foes, 311-26, winning the school’s first Sunset League title in the process. But in a one-game playoff for the section’s minor schools final, Newport Harbor was blitzed, 39-6, by La Verne Bonita, led by future Heisman Trophy winner Glenn Davis.

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1974--Defense sparked the Sailors to a Sunset League championship. Led by linebacker Bucko Shaw and lineman Paul McCowen, Newport Harbor held seven of its nine regular-season opponents to two or fewer touchdowns. The Sailors fell in the quarterfinals to West Torrance, 24-0 in the Division AAAA quarterfinals.

1994--Sixty-three years after the first Newport Harbor team took the field, the Sailors won their first section title. They did it in style, becoming the sixth team in county history to post a 14-0 record. Five of those victories came by a total of 12 points, but behind a defense anchored by all-county selections Bill Johns and Dan McDonough, Newport Harbor capped a perfect season by topping Servite, 20-15, in the Division V title game.

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