Shadowlands

Looking back, 5 years ago this week.

The Newport Harbor High girls tennis team claims revenge with an 11-7

victory over Back Bay rival Corona del Mar. Newport, which suffers its

only loss to the Sea Kings earlier in the season, answers on the strength

of its doubles teams. The Sailors win 7 of 9 doubles sets and Katie

Canright, the Sailors’ No. 2 singles player, sweeps. Newport Harbor’s No.

1 doubles team of Brooke Taylor and Emily Barker displays its dominating

ways, sweeping 6-4, 6-4, 6-2, while Chelsea Godbey and Amanda Collopy

also sweep, 7-5, 6-2, 6-0.

Estancia High’s Amy Deming slams a match-high 10 kills to lead the

Eagles girls volleyball team to a 15-11, 15-13, 15-8 victory over

crosstown rival Costa Mesa. Estancia collects 12 aces to Mesa’s seven, as

all six Eagle starters find holes in the Mustangs’ defense from the

service line. Senior Jill Black leads the service barrage for the winners

with three aces, while Deming, Megan Faulkner, Christina Aguirre and

Jackie McGuinnis drill two each. Kelly Miller adds one ace.

The Costa Mesa football team falls for a pregame trick by University

and has to rally to win, 17-7. The Trojans have one player on crutches

and two others warm up behind the stadium, but all three play and they

help Uni to a 7-0 halftime lead. The Mustangs answer in the second half,

as running back Vince Hamade picks up 87 of his 153 rushing yards in the

second half, including touchdown runs of 28 and 10 yards. “Our players

were dumb, but the coaches were even dumber,” Mesa Coach Jerry Howell

says. “(Uni Coach Mark Cunningham) really fooled us by having (Ryan

Collette) on crutches and the other two guys warm up (behind the

stadium). We fell for it hook, line and sinker. We were big tunas.”

The Newport Harbor football team scores three straight touchdowns in

the second quarter en route to a momentous 39-14 victory over Irvine. Ray

Ohrel runs for 101 yards and two touchdowns on 23 carries. He also

catches an 11-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Josiah Fredricksen,

who finishes with 218 yards and four touchdowns on 13-of-17 passing.

Looking back, 10 years ago this week.

The Corona del Mar High freshman football team crushes Back Bay rival

Newport Harbor, 41-8. The Sea Kings are inspired by the varsity players.

“It’s hard to tell freshmen about a rivalry, so we had some of the

varsity players come down and talk to them,” CdM freshman coach Ted

Williams said. The inspirational ploy seems to work. CdM fullback Brian

Hogan rushes for 95 yards on eight carries. He scores three touchdowns on

runs of 12, 45 and 13 yards. Tailback Michael Digrado, who scores the

game’s first touchdown on an 18-yard run, finishes with 86 yards on 16

carries as CdM rolls to 253 rushing yards. Williams praises linemen Fred

Garcia, Dave Webber, Todd Borland, William Deuchar, Dan Berger and Kevin

Wickett for their play on both sides of the ball. Meanwhile, Newport

running back Brian Johnson leads all rushers with 123 yards, including a

64-yard touchdown run, on 13 carries.

The Costa Mesa football team pounds visiting Laguna Beach, 38-0, in a

game that includes a big brawl. Taking some of the luster off a 440-yard

production by the Mustangs is a flurry of fighting on the field, which

also spills onto the Laguna Beach sideline, resulting in five players

being ejected, as well as an unidentified Laguna Beach freshman coach,

according to Mesa officials. Aside from the fight, Mesa sophomore Binh

Tran rushes for 235 yards on 20 carries, including a 30-yard scoring dash

with 35 seconds left in the game. Another sophomore, Mike Pawinski,

rambles for 117 yards on 22 carries, including touchdown runs of 1, 1 and

3 yards.

The Estancia football team upsets Pacific Coast League co-leader,

Trabuco Hills, 20-17, to force a four-way tie for first place in the PCL.

Eagles Coach John Liebengood places the victory among the greatest in his

six-year tenure at the school. Matt Johner completes 12 of 16 passes for

127 yards to spark, perhaps, his team’s greatest offensive effort of the

season. Johner also scores a pair of 1-yard touchdown runs.

-- compiled by Steve Virgen