Newport Harbor Football Preview

Newport Harbor (5-4, 3-1) vs. Los Alamitos (6-3, 2-2)

When/where: Thursday night, 7 at Veterans Stadium in Long Beach

Key Sailors: Sr. RB-LB Talalelei Teaupa (1,259 yards and eight TDs on 181 carries); Sr. LB-Marty Taylor; Jr. WR-CB Quest Truxton (31 catches for 514 yards and eight TDs)

Key Griffins: Jr. WR Dashawn Gordon (40 catches for 478 yards and four TDs); Sr. QB Cody Marshall (1,541 yards, 12 TDs and nine INTs on 112-of-186 passing); Sr. OL Alex Redmond

Breakdown: Newport Harbor, ranked No. 9 in the CIF Southern Section Southwest Division poll, can clinch one of the Sunset League’s three automatic playoff berths with a victory against the No. 8 Griffins … Sailors are tied for second place in league with Huntington Beach and hold the head-to-head tiebreaker against the Oilers, who play first-place Edison on Friday … Los Alamitos, which is in fourth place in league, needs to beat the Sailors to increase its chances of making the postseason … If Newport Harbor and Huntington Beach both lose, the two schools would share second place with Los Alamitos and a coin flip would determine the league’s No. 2 and No. 3 playoff entries … Sailors have won four of the past five meetings against the Griffins … Los Alamitos Coach John Barnes has 301 career victories, the most in Orange County history, and Newport Harbor Coach Jeff Brinkley has 218 wins, fifth most in the county.

— David Carrillo Peñaloza