Football: Newport Harbor outlasts HB

Jeff Brinkley isn’t one to look too much into the past. At 62 years old, the present is what counts to the Newport Harbor High football coach.

When looking for motivation for the Sailors’ Sunset League opener against Huntington Beach on Friday, he downplayed what happened last year between the two programs. In a one-month span last season, the Oilers ruined Newport Harbor’s league title hopes and then Newport Harbor’s CIF Southern Section Southwest Division championship hopes.

The Sailors stopped Huntington Beach from spoiling Brinkley’s 260th career victory as a coach. They made a defensive stand on the final play of the game. Keaton Cablay, who caught everything in sight as a wide receiver, got his hands on a pass in the end zone as a linebacker, intercepting it to allow the Sailors to hold on for a 52-48 win at Davidson Field.

The Oilers were 17 yards away from beating Newport Harbor (3-3, 1-0 in league) for the third straight time. It wasn’t going to happen on Brinkley’s night. Only two dozen coaches in California have won 260 football games, and Brinkley joins that exclusive group.

The legendary coach, who’s in his 29th season at Newport Harbor, coached in a special high-scoring affair. His quarterback, Cole Norris, led the way, completing 28 of 43 passes for 346 yards and a Newport Harbor single-game record six touchdowns.

“We kept answering,” Brinkley said. “They would score and our offense kept answering the bell and bouncing back.”

Norris, a senior, broke his own touchdown record. He had to in order to rally Newport Harbor in the final 2 minutes, 6 seconds. Norris did it all, using his legs to escape defenders. Twice on fourth down situations, Norris moved the chains, the first with a 13-yard run, then on a 12-yard pass.

Norris ran the two-minute drill to perfection, wasting little time. Nothing stopped Norris, not even a false start, from giving the Sailors the go-ahead score. After moving from the eight to the opponent’s 13 because of the penalty, Norris went to his favorite target, Cablay.

Norris and Cablay hooked up for a 13-yard touchdown. Cablay caught a quick out pass and dived for the pylon, helping the Sailors take a four-point lead with 29 seconds left.

Cablay finished with a career night, 14 catches for 177 yards and four touchdowns. The other two receivers Norris connected with for touchdowns were Ben Bockrath and Booker Hoey. Both touchdown passes came in the fourth quarter, both were of the 26-yard variety.

“It was an unbelievable moment. That’s one of the moments you dream of,” Cablay said.

“To win this game means so much.”

Newport Harbor fought back from a 42-31 deficit in the fourth quarter. The last two times the Sailors gave up 40-plus points to Huntington Beach they lost last year, 40-14 in the league finale at Huntington Beach, and 42-28 in the section finale at Angel Stadium.

At home, with the crowd behind them, the Sailors roared back. Their defense failed to stop tailback Hunter Simmons in the second half. Simmons recorded almost 200 of his 256 rushing yards in the final two quarters, a stretch in which the junior rushed for three touchdowns.

Simmons’ third score, a 25-yard run, gave Huntington Beach a 48-45 lead with 2:06 left. Malik Miller missed the extra-point attempt, and it proved to be huge.

The Sailors only needed a field goal from Michael Schultz, who converted a 26-yarder in the second quarter, to tie the game. Norris had other plans. He had been in this position before at Davidson Field.

In his first start on varsity two years ago as a sophomore, Norris threw a game-winning 22-yard touchdown on fourth-and-goal to top rival Corona del Mar, 27-26, in the waning seconds. Last year, Norris brought the Sailors back, leading them on a game-winning drive with 70 seconds left to defeat Palos Verdes, 34-33. That result gave Brinkley his 250th career win.

A year later, Norris delivered Brinkley’s 260th victory, 231 of those have come at the helm of the Sailors. Brinkley believes in Norris, and the final drive, starting on the Sailors’ 20-yard line, will tell you why. Norris didn’t need running back Cole Kinder, who ran hard, 24 times for 167 yards. Norris, who’s bound for Northern Arizona, ran three times for 23 yards, finishing with 77 yards on seven carries, and threw nine times, completing five passes for 57 yards.

Thirteen might be an unlucky number for some. For Norris, the last 13 yards through the air gave him and the Sailors a little payback against Huntington Beach (1-5, 0-1).

—

Newport Harbor 52, Huntington Beach 48

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Huntington 7 – 7 – 28 – 6 — 48

Newport 7 – 10 – 14 – 21 — 52

FIRST QUARTER

NH – Cablay 7 pass from Norris (Schultz kick), 9:07.

HB – Thompson 3 pass from James (Miller kick), 5:49.

SECOND QUARTER

HB – James 2 run (Miller kick), 7:59.

NH – Schultz 26 FG, 4:21.

NH – Cablay 17 pass from Norris (Schultz kick), 1:32.

THIRD QUARTER

HB – Heer 10 run (Miller kick), 10:31.

NH – Gaddis 5 run (kick blocked), 8:22.

HB – Davis 99 kickoff return (Miller kick), 8:07.

NH – Cablay 23 pass from Norris (Gaddis pass from Norris), 4:29.

HB – Simmons 32 run (Miller kick), 2:45.

HB – Simmons 9 run (Miller kick), :26.

FOURTH QUARTER

NH – Bockrath 26 pass from Norris (Schultz kick), 10:23.

NH – Hoey 26 pass from Norris (Schultz kick), 6:02.

HB – Simmons 25 run (kick failed), 2:06.

NH – Cablay 13 pass from Norris (Schultz kick), :29.

INDIVIDUAL RUSHING

HB – Simmons, 26-256, 3 TDs.

NH – Kinder, 24-167.

INDIVIDUAL PASSING

HB – James, 16-25-2, 167, 1 TD.

NH – Norris, 28-43-1, 346, 6 TDs.

INDIVIDUAL RECEIVING

HB – Thompson, 8-98, 1 TD.

NH – Cablay, 14-177, 4 TDs.