Tale of two halves

Rick Devereux

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. The opening of

“A Tale of Two Cities” is a lot like the opening Sea View League

football game for Newport Harbor High.

The Sailors, No. 1 in CIF Southern Section Division VI, tied

Foothill, 10-10, in an exciting game that had diametrically opposed

halves.

The Knights (2-3-1, 0-0-1 in league) dominated the first half.

Foothill controlled the line of scrimmage, the passing lanes and the

play calling to jump out to a 10-0 halftime lead.

On a fourth-and-five, Foothill’s Daniel Kirkpatrick completed a

13-yard pass to Steve Gonzalez, putting the ball on the Newport 15.

Following a shotgun snap over Kirkpatrick’s head, the quarterback ran

an option to the left, but pitched the ball to receiver Robert Walker

on a reverse. Walker then threw a 34-yard strike to Gonzalez for a

7-0 lead with 1:56 left in the first quarter.

Foothill’s coach said the Knights would run gadget plays to start

the game.

“We’re going to try a little trickery early so I don’t have those

plays just sitting in my pocket,” Doug Case said.

In the second quarter, on a fourth-and-13, Kirkpatrick threw a

31-yard bomb to Walker to the Newport 5. A nice defensive stand

highlighted by Ryan Uhl tackling the running back for a 1-yard loss

and Kaiona Kalama-Dutro knocking down a pass at the line of

scrimmage, forced a 22-yard field goal for a 10-0 score.

The Foothill offense wasn’t alone in tricking the Sailors. The

Knights’ defense was fooling Newport Harbor (5-0-1, 0-0-1).

Newport running back Trevor Theriot, playing in his first game

since dislocating his left elbow in the fourth quarter against Corona

del Mar Sept. 23, was held to 32 rushing yards on 10 carries in the

first half. Quarterback Kasey Peters completed two of his nine passes

for 6 yards. The Sailors managed two first-half first-downs and 38

yards on offense.

Things turned around for Newport Harbor in the second half. The

Sailors took the third-quarter kickoff, and drove down the field

efficiently. Theriot gained 40 yards on five carries in that drive

and Peters opened up the possession with a 23-yard gain to tight end

Greg Miner on a corner route. The drive stalled at the 4, but Travis

Duffield nailed a 22-yard field goal to make it 10-3.

The Newport defense stepped up its play in the second half, as

well. Cornerback Matt Erickson picked off a lob pass at the Newport 3

to stop Foothill’s first drive of the third quarter.

Theriot again was the workhorse, carrying the ball eight times for

72 yards, including the 16-yard touchdown with 6.5 seconds left in

the quarter to tie the game at 10. Theriot finished with 206 rushing

yards on 28 carries.

“We told them at the half that they were playing not to lose

instead of playing to win,” Coach Jeff Brinkley said. “We were on our

heels in the first half, but we came out hard in the second half.”

Foothill had opportunities to win the game, but the Sailor defense

was huge each time.

Miner blocked a field-goal attempt at the start of the fourth

quarter after the defense stopped the Knights at the 1 on two

consecutive plays. With less than a minute to play, Foothill was

driving and on the Newport 15 when defensive end Saami Khalifian

caused and recovered a fumble.

The Sea View League does not play an overtime.