Newport Harbor's Ohrel Is Eager to Make Amends for Fumble

By PAUL McLEOD

Dec. 13, 1996 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

NEWPORT BEACH — Raymond Ohrel turns the play over and over in his mind.

The standout Newport Harbor running back had just run 72 yards to the Santa Margarita eight-yard line on what was looking like a sure third-quarter touchdown drive Oct. 18, the first time these two playoff finalists met this season.

But Ohrel fumbled on the next play before he got to the line of scrimmage. Santa Margarita recovered and, four plays later, the Eagles scored a touchdown. Suddenly a two-point Newport Harbor lead had become a four-point deficit. Santa Margarita, outscoring Newport Harbor, 16-7, down the stretch, went on to win the Sea View League game, 36-22.

That mistake will weigh heavily on Ohrel and his teammates Saturday night, when Newport Harbor meets Santa Margarita in a rematch at 7:30 p.m. at Cal State Fullerton in the Southern Section Division V championship game.

Newport Harbor has won seven in a row since that loss. Santa Margarita has a 10-game winning streak.

The first meeting was a lot closer than the score indicated.

“If we had scored I think we would have broken them down,” Ohrel said. “That would have put us up by nine. We’re usually strong in the second half, and I think we would have been able to hold them off.”

Instead, Ohrel has had to live with the pain of that fleeting moment when he couldn’t hang onto the ball. That’s too bad, considering the outstanding season he has had. He ranks fourth in the county in rushing with 1,973 yards and 27 touchdowns.

“He’s just had a great year for us,” Newport Harbor Coach Jeff Brinkley said. “He’s helped give us real balance in our offense.”

The fumble was simply one of the few times this season that Ohrel has made a mistake. Despite that bobble, he finished the game with a career-high 259 yards and a touchdown in 35 carries.

“He really hates to fumble, he really wants to help the team,” left tackle Ian Dorish said. “He’s a good, quality back and he was all upset about it, but he bounced back.”

Not before Ohrel had several dreams about the play and had to endure newspaper accounts of the gaffe.

“It was horrible, especially the stuff in the papers,” he said.

Ohrel has dealt with personal obstacles before. He played football and baseball at Costa Mesa High School for three years, but found himself in danger of flunking out of school by the middle of his junior year, he said.

“I wasn’t doing too well academically and I was hanging around with the wrong crowd,” he said. “I was unhappy with my life and my grades and my sports at Costa Mesa.”

So Ohrel changed ports, jumped ship and became a Sailor. His arrival, according to Brinkley, was a complete surprise.

“I had never seen him play at Mesa,” Brinkley said. “I didn’t know what to expect from the guy. He really stepped it up offensively. He fits in real well.”

Santa Margarita Coach Jim Hartigan termed that first victory over Newport Harbor the team’s greatest since it joined the Sea View League in 1992. But he admitted he was unhappy with the way the Eagle defense performed trying to slow down Ohrel.

“We need to stop their running game this time around because he had a big game against us the last time,” Hartigan said. “I think we may have underestimated his speed a little. Our linebackers have to take better angles against him this time.”

Newport Harbor quarterback Josiah Fredriksen doesn’t believe Ohrel can be flat-out stopped.

“Ray is an explosive runner,” Fredriksen said. “We know he’ll get the job done. Since he transferred here he has balanced out our offense. It’s also helped our passing attack.”

Ohrel, who says he has been much happier with his life since transferring to Newport Harbor, sees Saturday’s game as an opportunity to redeem himself and to put those headlines and bad dreams behind him.

“This is my time for revenge,” he said. “We have to go out there, make no mistakes and beat them this time.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

The Record on Ohrel

The game-by-game rushing of Newport Harbor’s Raymond Ohrel:

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Opponent Att Yds TD Orange 13 209 2 Marina 14 74 2 Torrance 13 193 4 Canyon 21 162 3 Savanna 24 139 2 Santa Margarita 34 272 1 El Toro 30 124 1 Irvine 22 103 2 Corona del Mar 20 203 3 Woodbridge 19 91 2

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PLAYOFFS

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Opponent Att Yds TD Anaheim 29 93 1 Foothill 29 157 1 Servite 30 153 1 Totals 298 1973 25

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