TWO-MINUTE DRILL

In the last two games, Newport Harbor High tailback Buzzy Yokoyama has rushed for 260 yards and four touchdowns against Corona del Mar and 294 yards and three touchdowns against Loyola of Los Angeles.

When asked about which performance he was more proud, the junior did not hesitate to answer after leading the host Sailors to a 35-13 nonleague victory against rival CdM at a sold-out Davidson Field on Friday.

“This week’s game; it was the Battle of the Bay,” Yokoyama said. “The rivalry is always big.”

Yokoyama is on a touchdown tear.

After going without a touchdown in the first six quarters of the season, Yokoyama has produced touchdown runs of 69, 64, 44, 26, 22, 17 and 11 yards in the last six quarters.

He is just a junior, but teams might want to think twice before throwing on Sage Hill School cornerback Conner Ascher. In the Lightning’s 48-8 victory at Sherman Indian of Riverside on Friday night, Ascher returned an interception for a touchdown for the second straight game.

Ascher, who leads the Lightning (4-0) with three interceptions, read the fourth-and-seven play well.

“Conner Ascher made a huge play, stepping in front of a slant that we’ve seen on film over and over again,” Sage Hill Coach J.R. Tolver said. “We knew the situation, the down and distance that they like to throw that slant. That’s a testament to Conner for studying his game plan, watching the film and putting it all into action.”

Sherman Indian was able to complete just one of 10 passes for six yards, and Ascher and senior Randall Mycorn each had interceptions. Tolver credited his secondary coach, former NFL safety Ricky Sharpe, for developing Ascher as well as junior cornerback Eric Cheng.

“Both of those guys are going to be studs for us in the future,” Tolver said.

CdM kicker Andrew Boehm converted each of his field-goal attempts, from 25 and 20 yards last week. He has eight field goals on the year.

The Sailors became the first defense to hold CdM tailback Clay Reinhardt to fewer than 100 yards rushing this season.

The senior went into the Battle of the Bay averaging seven yards per carry, but Newport Harbor limited him to 2.2 yards per attempt Friday. Reinhardt finished with 51 yards on 23 carries.

Costa Mesa High junior DeSean Grayson returned the second-half kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown in the Mustangs’ 36-16 loss to visiting Ocean View on Friday at Jim Scott Stadium. It was the third kickoff Grayson has brought all the way back this season.

Grayson’s heroics gave Costa Mesa its first second-half lead of the season. But the Mustangs (0-4) yielded 22 unanswered points from that point on.

With Grayson’s touchdown, Costa Mesa had outscored opponents, 48-9, in the second half, before the Seahawks (3-1), who moved into the CIF Southern Section Southern Division poll at No. 10, scored touchdowns on three of their last four possessions.

Mesa has been outscored, 99-34, before intermission in 2010.

The Eagles suffered their second straight setback by losing to University, 13-6, at Irvine High Thursday.

Since Estancia (1-2) opened the season with a 55-0 victory against Bolsa Grande, the offense has staggered. The Eagles have scored 19 points in the past two games.

The defense has allowed only 34 points in three games this season.

After the Sailors dominated CdM for the fourth straight year and took a 36-13 edge in the Battle of the Bay series, Brinkley praised the Sea Kings, ranked No. 9 in the CIF Southern Division.

“These guys, they’re a scrappy group,” Brinkley said. “They’ll do well in that division.”

The Sea Kings’ ground game wasn’t as ineffective as the passing game. CdM (3-1) was able to complete just one of its six passes in the second half. CdM quarterback Mitch Gardner’s favorite target was wide receiver Brent Gray. The two hooked up four times for 57 yards and one touchdown. Gardner completed only one pass to someone other than Gray.

Next up for Newport Harbor (3-0), ranked No. 5 in the CIF Pac-5 Division, is a home game against San Clemente (4-1), which is coming off its first loss of the season and dropped out of the Pac-5 Division’s top 10.

The Tritons lost at home to Mater Dei, 42-14. San Clemente, which uses a no-huddle, spread offense, started its season on Aug. 26 in Hawaii.

The Tritons have already beaten one Sunset League team, besting Fountain Valley, 59-24. Newport Harbor Coach Jeff Brinkley is concerned about San Clemente, which is from the South Coast League.

Newport Harbor and San Clemente will meet for only the second time. The last meeting was in 1966, when the Sailors won, 21-0.

Estancia tailback Robert Murtha rushed for 100 yards in his Estancia debut and 200 yards in his second start. The sophomore finished with 54 yards on 22 carries against University and he was held without a touchdown for the first time this season.

One obvious highlight for Costa Mesa Friday was safety Noah Jayarajah. The sophomore had two of the Mustangs’ five sacks, made a near-interception, blocked a conversion kick and tackled the ballcarrier on an attempted two-point conversion run.

Small football schools like Sage Hill often have to travel long distances to face opponents. Friday night, it was Sherman Indian of Riverside, and this week the Lightning will travel to play Viewpoint of Calabasas.

In its first six games, Sage Hill, ranked No. 6 in the CIF Southern Section East Valley Division, has just one Orange County school on its schedule. It was the opener, in which the Lightning rallied to defeat Fairmont Prep of Anaheim. That game, however,, was played outside Orange County, at Valley Christian High in Cerritos.

With its first blowout victory of the season, Sage Hill was afforded the luxury of bringing in plenty of substitutes against Sherman Indian.

Sophomore Charlie Kim had 42 yards on just two carries. Junior receiver/defensive back Jack Markman, freshman defensive back Will Burns, sophomore lineman Jason Cowan and freshman offensive lineman/linebacker Jack Bick also got some action in the second half.

For the third straight year, Newport Harbor handed CdM its first loss after the Sea Kings had begun the season 3-0.

Estancia played its first of three straight games against Pacific Coast League teams last week.

The one against University was up for grabs and the Eagles gave the Trojans their first victory of the season. The next two nonleague games for Estancia are against Northwood (1-2) and Beckman (1-2) and they do not figure to get any easier.

Northwood has already blown out defending Orange Coast League champion Laguna Beach, 62-27. Northwood also lost a close one to former perennial Pacific Coast League champion Laguna Hills, 28-25.

Beckman, ranked No. 8 in the Southern Division, went into the season as a favorite to win the league after Laguna Hills left for the Sea View League, of which Northwood used to be a member, until it moved leagues this season.

— From staff reports