Sailors’ Yokoyama transfers

Buzzy Yokoyama, the Newport Harbor High football team’s top running back, is transferring to Mission Viejo for his senior year, Sailors Coach Jeff Brinkley said Thursday.

Yokoyama, a first-team All-Sunset League tailback, told Brinkley Wednesday that he will transfer.

Brinkley declined to comment further and referred questions to the Yokoyama family. Jeff Yokoyama, Buzzy’s father, declined to comment when reached by phone Thursday.

Yokoyama’s family is moving to Mission Viejo, Newport Harbor linebacker Ethan Cochran said. Buzzy Yokoyama will play football at Mission Viejo, said a Newport Harbor parent who requested to be anonymous.

Yokoyama rushed for 1,250 yards and 12 touchdowns, despite missing three games because of a dislocated right kneecap suffered in the fourth game of the season. He averaged 7.4 yards per carry, using a hard-running, aggressive style. He was named to the Daily Pilot Dream Team.

“I was pretty shocked,” Cochran said of Yokoyama transferring. “Not everybody was expecting that. We should be fine without him. I’m sure somebody else will step up.”

It’s the second straight year the Sailors lost a tailback expected to return. Cedric Whitaker left the program after rushing for 1,003 yards as a junior in 2009.