Newport Harbor Rallies to Defeat Corona del Mar

Newport Harbor scored twice in the last four minutes Thursday night to steal a 21-17 victory from city rival Corona del Mar in the 43rd “Battle of the Bell.”

Newport Harbor leads the series, 31-12, but the Sailors appeared to be down for the count after falling behind, 17-0.

A blocked punt and lost fumble had twice given Corona del Mar field position inside the 10-yard line that it converted into 10 points. The other seven came after Wess Presson’s 62-yard kickoff return to the 32-yard line to open the second half and Tom Welch’s seven-yard pass to twin brother Kevin for the score.

Trevor Theriot ran for 54 yards on the ensuing drive and Kasey Peters passed 11 yards to Jack Tracy to cut the deficit to 17-6.

But Theriot was injured while playing linebacker on the ensuing series. He had carried 15 times for 98 yards.

Newport Harbor got a 63-yard punt return from Spencer Link for a touchdown and a two-point conversion pass from Peters to Thomas Martin to cut the deficit to 17-14 with 3:27 to play. Peters hit Link in stride behind the secondary for a 47-yard score with 1:07 left to cap the rally.

-- Martin Henderson