Calm before the storm

Rebecca Harris

It might have been the day before any normal football game.

On Thursday, as the hours counted down to Newport Harbor High School’s

CIF championship match with Irvine High School, students did everyday

things.

As the football team practiced, scattered pockets of students talked,

practiced skateboard maneuvers near the tennis courts and peeled out of

the parking lot.

But as the team prepared to battle for what would be its first CIF title

since 1994, the picture came into focus.

Upon closer inspection, the team running a light practice in the stadium

was infused with nervous energy.

The school’s cheerleading squad practiced fervently near The Anchor

monument, moving as if the height of its kicks could propel the team

forward.

Between routine practices, the girls’ chatter floated across the lawn,

offering a verbal embrace to all who support the team.

“I don’t want to jinx it, but I know we’re going to win,” Reynolds

DeVries, 15, said excitedly.

She spoke with confidence, even though the team’s past record in CIF

championship games is less than perfect. She may not remember when the

Sailors lost to Rancho Santa Margarita in 1996. Or when Irvine beat the

Tars in the 1992 final.

But people involved in the game’s outcome said the pressure is definitely

on.

The game is so big that athletic administrators eschewed the normal pep

rally to give the players a little breathing room.

“Normally we’d have one, but there’s so much pressure on these guys

already,” said Chet Malek, activities director at Newport Harbor.

But pride mingles with modesty for senior Billy Clayton, a receiver and

safety who’s also the senior class representative of the school’s

Associated Student Body. All games merit careful practice and generate

excitement, he said.

“We kind of have the same tradition for every game,” Clayton said.

Mike Tunney, outside linebacker for the team, agreed.

“The day of the game, we just go to school, do the same routine,” he

said. “But it’s kind of hard to concentrate, so you try to keep yourself

busy with schoolwork.”

The night before the game, a team dinner becomes more about bonding and

sharing anticipation than filling empty stomachs.

“We just kind of hang out together and get in the right mind-set,”

Clayton said.

Today the excitement will hit home.

“We’re definitely psyched and we’ve been very focused and excited,”

Clayton said. “This is obviously our biggest goal that we’re trying to

achieve.”

But Tunney said he plans to keep his excitement under wraps.

“This game is one of the biggest games of my life, but it’s not really

worth getting worked up about it, psyching yourself out,” he said.

The team will spend the five or so hours between school dismissal and

game time as a unit, bolstering each other emotionally through another

dinner and bonding session, Clayton said.

But all day at school, they’ll see a tangible reminder of the event’s

significance.

On each player’s locker is a placard listing 13 goals for the season in

reverse order of importance.

“It started out with things like, ‘getting a little better every day,”’

Clayton said. “Things that were easy.”

The last -- and most important -- goal on the list is winning the CIF

championship, Clayton said.

“We’ve pretty much accomplished every one so far,” he said.

Only one to go.

THE BIG GAME

Tonight’s CIF-Southern Section Division VI football championship game,

pitting Newport Harbor against Irvine, begins at 7:30 p.m. at Orange

Coast College, 2701 Fairview Road, Costa Mesa.