SEA VIEW LEAGUE FOOTBALL : Santa Margarita Turns Game Over to Newport Harbor

NEWPORT BEACH —  Newport Harbor got defensive Thursday night, forcing five Santa Margarita turnovers--all by quarterback Sean O’Brien--en route to a 27-16 Sea View League victory.

Newport Harbor (7-2, 4-2) scored in every quarter as O’Brien threw three passes that were intercepted and fumbled twice in his worse outing of the season. Three of the turnovers led directly to Newport Harbor scores.

“It was the worse we’ve played offensively all year,” Santa Margarita Coach Jim Hartigan said. “We killed ourselves with turnovers. We were flat all week in practice, and then Newport’s defense took it to us.”

Santa Margarita (7-2, 4-2) could have clinched a playoff spot with a victory, but instead needs a victory next week over Woodbridge to finish third in the eight-team league.

O’Brien came into the game with a completion percentage of nearly 70%. He had thrown only two interceptions, but surpassed that with three in the first half as Newport Harbor took a 21-10 lead.

Linebacker Justin Ketcham began the string of errors when he intercepted a pass at the Santa Margarita 39 and returning it 10 yards. Wade Tift scored his first of two touchdowns on a nifty run on the next play to give the Sailors a 7-0 lead. Tift finished with 156 yards rushing in 27 carries.

O’Brien’s problems continued in the second quarter when he was hit by Newport Harbor linebacker Nathan Lumpkin while attempting a pass and fumbled. Lumpkin picked up the loose ball and raced 56 yards for a touchdown.

Cornerback Chris Edwards and free safety Chris Hunter also had interceptions for Newport Harbor in the half, but O’Brien kept firing. He threw 31 times in the first half but had only a 19-yard touchdown pass to Brian Finneran to show for his efforts.

Newport Harbor clinched the victory in the third quarter when the Sailors drove 65 yards and consumed seven minutes to set up Doug Stuckey’s 25-yard field goal. Stuckey also had a 22-yarder in the fourth quarter to make it 27-10.

O’Brien finished with 237 yards passing, completing 19 of 46. He connected with Brad Finneran on a 25-yard touchdown pass with 50 seconds remaining.

“We played great defense and pounded them offensively with our running game,” Newport Harbor Coach Jeff Brinkley said. “We went with some different coverages in our secondary and put some heat on O’Brien up front.”