Locals’ survival rate up

monday morning quarterbacksIt has been 27 seasons since this many teams from Newport-Mesa won first-round games in the CIF football playoffs.For the first time since 1978, and only the second time in history, three Newport-Mesa high school football teams have advanced past the first round of the CIF Southern Section playoffs.

Newport Harbor and Sage Hill, by virtue of their respective one-point victories, as well as Corona del Mar, which handled Garden Grove by three touchdowns, can all consider Thanksgiving dinner a pregame meal.

Estancia had its season ended by a first-round loss.

The only other time three Newport-Mesa teams posted first-round wins was 1978, when Newport Harbor, Corona del Mar and Costa Mesa all reached the quarterfinals.

Here’s a look at the local teams:

* NEWPORT HARBOR: Sailors Coach Jeff Brinkley calls the play “Freeze” for a reason.

The play, which is really no play at all since it either concludes with a penalty flag or a Sailor timeout, calls for the quarterback to bark signals under center with the intent of drawing a defender offside.

The call, which drew an encroachment penalty on El Dorado that helped set up a game-winning, 1-yard, two-point conversion run by Ryan Rippon in the Tars’ 32-31 overtime CIF Division VI victory Friday night at Valencia High, worked to perfection.

The same was not the case earlier in the season, when a miscommunication in the cadence resulted in the ball being snapped on fourth-down-and-inches from the Sailors’ own 15-yard line. That time, on Oct. 7, a short loss gave the ball to Mira Costa. The Mustangs scored a touchdown and went on to win, 23-20, in overtime.

This time, an El Dorado timeout allowed Brinkley and his players to emphasize the instructional aspect of the play’s name.

“During that timeout, I must have said ‘Freeze’ about 10 times and all the players must have repeated it 10 times to themselves, so there wasn’t any doubt,” Brinkley said. “I heard one player say, ‘Close your eyes if you have to.’

“After what happened against Mira Costa, I started to think ‘Freeze’ maybe wasn’t the best name for the play. But I think we learned our lesson. I don’t think any of our guys are ever going to move again on that play.”

The game-winning conversion run included another strategic ploy, as 6-foot-4, 332-pound senior left tackle Charles Schultz was shifted to right tackle for the play.

“I told them we were going with seniors behind seniors,” Brinkley said. “Rippon, a senior, got the ball, and we lined up center Lou Truxton, guard Billy Munce, Schultz and tight end Billy Brown, who were all seniors.”

Senior fullback Jack Tracy and senior Delano McKenzie, a second halfback in the full-house formation, also preceded Rippon through the hole.

“Delano did a good job on his kick-out block,” but another [defender] got some penetration, so Rippon had to run through a tackle,” Brinkley said.

It was the fifth touchdown in the last two games for Rippon, who had three touchdowns in his previous five games this season.

Rippon also surpassed the 200-yard rushing mark (218) for the second straight game. The Sailors (8-3) will play host to No. 3-seeded Charter Oak (8-3) in Friday’s 7 p.m. quarterfinal. Charter Oak, the Miramonte League co-champion, defeated Bellflower, 14-7, in the first round.

Newport defeated Charter Oak, 14-7, in last year’s quarterfinal, on its way to the Division VI title game.

* SAGE HILL: The Lightning (9-1) earned the first postseason win in their four varsity seasons Friday with a 28-27 CIF Division XIII thriller against visiting Pasadena Poly (5-5) in the first round. Junior linebacker Don Ayres and junior cornerback Braden Ross converged to stuff Poly quarterback Stephen Sherman at the 1-yard line on a last-second two-point conversion attempt that would have given Poly the victory.

Despite the harrowing finish, Sage Coach Tom Monarch said he felt his team was in control for the majority of the game.

“We had them on the ropes several times, but we just didn’t quite knock them out,” he said. “I think we played our game plan to a tee.”

Sage Hill lost in the first round last season in its first playoff appearance.

“It was extremely important; not just for this team, but for teams in years to come,” Monarch said.

“I told them all week that winning playoff games really has to do with how much you want it,” Monarch said. Sage Hill’s postseason task becomes a little more daunting on Friday, when the Lightning meet Campbell Hall (8-3) at 7:30 p.m. in a quarterfinal at Birmingham High in Van Nuys.

The Vikings were 35-0 first-round winners over No. 2-seeded California School for the Deaf.

* CORONA DEL MAR: The Sea Kings’ late-season surge continued with a 28-7 win at Garden Grove Friday in the CIF Division IX opener.

It was the fourth straight triumph for Coach Dick Freeman’s squad (6-5), which plays host to No. 2-seeded La Habra (9-2) in the quarterfinals Friday at 7 p.m. at Orange Coast College.

Freeman said the recent success is a reflection of the team’s steady improvement.

“I keep telling our guys that toward the end of the season, it’s a little bit like running the 100 meters,” Freeman said. “The guy who wins the race is the guy who doesn’t slow down as much as the other guys. You can’t accelerate during the whole race, but you want to slow down less than the guys around you. I think we’re still getting better.”

The Sea Kings’ first playoff win since 1995 spurred Freeman to recall the 1988 CdM team that won the program’s first Southern Section crown.

“Those guys kind of got through the regular season [8-0-2, but with only three wins of more than nine points], then they caught fire in the playoffs,” Freeman said.

The 1998 Sea Kings, coached by Dave Holland, outscored their four playoff opponents by a combined 103-22.

* ESTANCIA: Brian Barnes, the Eagles’ 26-year-old first-year coach, has repeated the axiom enough to give it mantra status around the school’s football office.

“It’s not how you start the race, it’s how you finish,” Barnes is fond of saying, referring to the continual progress he hopes to see for the program.

The Eagles (2-9) did their coach proud in Friday’s 58-7 CIF Division VII first-round loss to top-seeded Santa Fe at Pioneer High in Whittier. Estancia scored on the final play of the game to avoid becoming the Chiefs’ seventh shutout victim this season.

“I’ve been preaching all year about not giving up and finishing,” Barnes said. “Our kids fought and I was pleased with the way they finished. [The unbeaten Chiefs] shut out six teams, but they couldn’t shut out the Eagles.”

Barnes said his team overachieved this season, earning the school’s first playoff berth since 2000.

He cited Golden West League wins over Costa Mesa and Saddleback as season highlights and said he will never forget his first team.

“I’ve built relationships with these kids,” Barnes said. “I wish I we had this senior class back for another year, but I think the younger guys are already excited about next year.”

Next season, the Eagles will compete in the newly formed Orange Coast League, which will include Costa Mesa, Calvary Chapel, Laguna Beach and Godinez.

-- Chris Yemma contributed to this report