Rippon shreds Irvine defense

Senior tailback rushes for 199 yards, 176 in the first half, and a touchdown in Sailors’ victory.NEWPORT BEACH -- Ryan Rippon was hesitant to call it his best first-half performance ever, but he wasn’t shy on giving credit where credit was due.

“I know it was probably the offensive line’s best first half I have ever seen,” he said.

Rippon rushed for 176 yards and a touchdown in the first half and the Newport Harbor High football team cruised to a 34-14 Sea View League victory over visiting Irvine on Friday.

The 6-foot, 200-pound senior tailback finished the night with 199 yards on 16 carries, including an 82-yard scamper in the first quarter.

“When they’re making holes like that, all you can do is run through them,” Rippon said.

One week after suffering a 24-21 last-second setback at Aliso Niguel, the Sailors (6-3, 3-1 in league) -- ranked No. 10 in CIF Southern Section Division VI -- got back to their winning ways.

The win over the Vaqueros (3-6, 0-4) helped keep Newport Harbor’s chances at a shared league title alive. A triumph over Laguna Hills on Nov. 10 would seal the situation.

“We played well tonight -- we needed a game like this,” Newport Harbor Coach Jeff Brinkley said. “We came out and kind of put everything together. Hopefully we can carry some of this momentum into next week.”

The Sailors didn’t waste any time against the Vaqueros.

Quarterback Tom Jackson connected on a 25-yard touchdown pass to Jarrett Daniel with 8:26 remaining in the first quarter. On the Sailors’ next series, Rippon broke free for his 82-yard run, and Newport Harbor was up, 14-0, after the conversions.

Jackson connected twice more through the air for scores -- a 5-yard pass to tight end Billy Brown and a 9-yard toss to receiver James Coder -- while defensive back Fernando Lara returned an interception 42 yards for another touchdown.

“It always feels good to win,” Jackson said. “We strung together a few nice drives and we had a good offensive output tonight.”

Rippon carried the bulk of the carries through a little less than three quarters, before sophomore Riley Parker entered for the remainder. Parker carried eight times for 81 yards.

The Sailors racked up 302 yards on the ground and 428 total yards, holding Irvine to 251 total yards, including 129 in the first half.

“It was a game we certainly thought, and wanted, to play well in,” Brinkley said. “It’s always a battle against [Irvine], but we kind of had our back against the wall, so we really needed to win this one.”

NEWPORT HARBOR 34, IRVINE 14

SCORE BY QUARTERS