Newport Harbor loses coach, wins Sunset League finale, then loses coin flip for third to Fountain Valley

The Newport Harbor High football team did not have its head coach for the second half of its biggest win of the season.

Jeff Brinkley, in his 32nd year in charge, left at halftime of the Sailors’ Sunset League finale at Huntington Beach on Friday night. Defensive coordinator Matt Burns, who took over as head coach in Brinkley’s absence, said that Brinkley was feeling uncomfortable during the game due to his condition of atrial fibrillation, an irregular heartbeat.

Ten years ago, Brinkley also left a Newport Harbor game at halftime because his heart started racing, and he was taken to the hospital.

After Friday’s game, Burns said Brinkley was resting at home with his wife, Laura.

“He’s not at the hospital or anything,” Burns said of Brinkley, who is 65 years old. “He’s OK.”

It remains to be seen if there will be another game this year for Brinkley to coach Newport Harbor.

But Brinkley’s Sailors kept themselves in the CIF Southern Section postseason discussion with an upset win. The Sailors beat the Oilers 21-7, creating a three-way tie for third place in the league between Newport Harbor, Huntington Beach and Fountain Valley.

The athletic directors from each school left the field after the game to conduct coin flips. A few minutes later, Sailors athletic director Jerry Murray came back to tell the coaching staff that Fountain Valley (6-4, 2-3 in league) had won the third-place designation from the Sunset League.

The Barons have a leg up on being selected to the CIF Southern Section Division 6 playoffs when the bracket is released on Sunday at 10 a.m. They went into the week ranked No. 7 in Division 6.

Newport Harbor (2-8, 2-3) will have to apply as an at-large team in Division 6, and the chances of Huntington Beach (3-7, 2-3) to qualify in Division 7 were hurt with the loss to the Sailors.

None of the three teams is guaranteed entry into the postseason, and the Sailors know that all too well.

“After last year, there [are] zero guarantees,” said Burns, who saw the Sailors finish alone in third place last year yet fail to make the playoffs.

What Burns could guarantee, though, was that the Sailors played inspired football on Friday. As the defensive coordinator, he could be especially happy with the performance.

The Sailors were stout. Huntington Beach did not get a first down on its first three drives of the game, and had just 78 yards from scrimmage in the first half.

“We just weren’t connecting,” said Huntington Beach coach Brett Brown, who watched the Sailors take a 7-0 advantage on Sam Barela’s four-yard touchdown pass to Brian Bailey early in the second quarter.

Huntington Beach tied the score midway through the third quarter when quarterback Arick McLawyer found a seam on the right side and was gone for a 56-yard touchdown run. But the Sailors responded with their own long touchdown run two possessions later, with Colin Gregg scoring on a 65-yard counter play.

Raphael Cruz made plays on both sides of the ball in the fourth quarter to help put the game out of reach for Newport Harbor. First, he intercepted McLawyer’s pass over the middle, returning it to the Newport Harbor 45-yard line. Three plays later, Cruz caught a 52-yard touchdown pass from Barela, diving in at the front right pylon to put the Sailors up two scores with 7:04 remaining in the game.

McLawyer tried to drive his team back down the field. On second-and-one from the Sailors’ three, Newport Harbor’s Cole O’Neil sacked McLawyer for a five-yard loss. He was slow to get up, and had to come out with what appeared to be an ankle injury. The Oilers inserted Andrew Abarca at quarterback, but the drive stalled and Huntington Beach turned the ball over on downs.

Freshman Jacob Hanlon then became the Oilers’ third quarterback of the night. He drove his team down the field and back into the red zone. On three of the next four plays, Hanlon tried to force the ball to receiver Jeremiah Flanagan, but Cruz was there to break it up each time. The fourth failed attempt caused another turnover on downs with 1:10 left to play.

The Sailors were on their way to beating the Oilers for the fourth straight year in league play. Now both teams hope their seasons will continue next week.

“I’m proud of everyone for staying focused,” Cruz said. “To go 0-8 and then have two of the best weeks of practice and play two of the best games we can, it’s just amazing that everyone had the dedication to do that.”

Newport Harbor 21, Huntington Beach 7

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Newport Harbor 0 – 7 – 7 – 7 — 21

Huntington Beach 0 – 0 – 7 – 0 — 7

SECOND QUARTER

NH – Bailey 4 pass from Barela (Schroeder kick), 10:45.

THIRD QUARTER

HB – McLawyer 56 run (Gonzalez kick), 6:47.

NH – Gregg 65 run (Schroeder kick), 3:46.

FOURTH QUARTER

NH – Cruz 52 pass from Barela (Schroeder kick), 7:04.

INDIVIDUAL RUSHING

NH – Gregg, 5-108, 1 TD.

HB – McLawyer, 14-99, 1 TD.

INDIVIDUAL PASSING

NH – Barela, 10-23-0, 97, 2 TDs.

HB – McLawyer, 6-18-1, 58.

INDIVIDUAL RECEIVING

NH – Cruz, 4-74, 1 TD.

HB – Bryant, 4-46.

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