Patrick LavertyAn early favorite in the race...

Patrick Laverty

An early favorite in the race for the 2003 Sea View League football

championship will be determined Friday when Foothill High travels to

Newport Harbor to take on the Sailors in the league opener for both

schools at 7 p.m.

The defending league champion, Foothill (4-1) suffered its first

loss last week to CIF Southern Section Division II title contender

San Clemente. Because of that difficult opponent and a combined

record of 3-17 for the four teams Foothill has defeated this season,

it is unclear just how good the Knights are after losing their top

three skill players from last year.

On the opposite side, Newport Harbor’s first 5-0 start since 1998

can also be called into question because its opponents have combined

for an 8-17 record this year.

Friday’s game should provide plenty of answers for both teams.

“It will be the toughest game to date,” said Newport Harbor Coach

Jeff Brinkley, whose Sailors are ranked No. 3 in CIF Division VI.

“They’re a very good football team. They’ve got good players on

offense and on defense, they have a slew of starters that went to the

[semifinals] last year. They definitely know how to win. We’ve got

our work cut out for us.”

The Knights, ranked No. 8 in CIF Division VI, returned eight

defensive starters from last year’s team and their offense has

plugged the holes left by graduation.

Quarterback Casey Daniels, taking over for the school’s

single-season and career passing leader, Don Poole, has completed

52.2% of his passes for 941 yards. He’s averaging 188.2 passing yards

per game and has thrown 10 touchdowns and six interceptions.

He will present a challenge for a Sailors secondary that has not

faced a significant passing threat over the last two weeks.

“We’re going to see a different system,” Brinkley said. “The last

two weeks, we’ve played teams that run the option and the

double-wing. There hasn’t been much throwing. This week, we’re really

going to have to gear ourselves up for guys spreading you out.”

Daniels’ top receiver is senior Brad Walker. The 6-foot-2,

200-pounder has caught 25 passes for 427 yards and six touchdowns.

Foothill attains balance on offense with senior running back Mike

Alba, who is averaging 103.6 yards per game and has scored eight

touchdowns.

Despite the new trio of skill players, Brinkley doesn’t expect to

be surprised by anything Foothill does on offense.

“We know what they do,” Brinkley said. “It hasn’t changed too much

over the last few years. They’ve got a quarterback that can throw it

around and a good running back who’s pretty physical.”

The Sailors will attempt to make big plays on defense via

turnover. Newport Harbor has forced 12 turnovers in five games, while

losing the ball just three times itself. Foothill turned the ball

over five times in its loss last week.

“We wished they would have saved a few of them for [this] week,”

Brinkley said.

The biggest loss for Newport Harbor could be junior cornerback

Matt Erickson, who remains out with a collarbone injury. He has the

Sailors’ only two interceptions this season and will be replaced by

senior Brian Campos, who has started the last two weeks.

In an attempt to help the secondary, Newport Harbor will look to

put pressure on Daniels. Junior defensive end Saami Khalifian has

eight sacks this season, as many as the entire Foothill team.

Despite the lack of sacks, Foothill is allowing just 13.4 points

per game, a number skewed by the 44 points scored by San Clemente

last week. Attempting to further dent that number will be a Sailors

offense led by the trio of quarterback Kasey Peters, tailback Matt

Encinias and receiver Spencer Link.

Peters, a junior, is coming off a near-perfect, 12-for-13

performance against Paramount last week. He has thrown for 673 yards

and 11 touchdowns this season, completing 46 of 84 passes. He has not

been intercepted.

The primary target for Peters is Link, another junior. He has

turned nine of his 21 catches into touchdowns and is averaging 21

yards per catch.

Encinias, a senior, has been rock steady out of the backfield. He

has rushed for more than 100 yards in four games, gaining 604 yards

on 111 carries and scoring seven touchdowns.

That trio, aided by an offensive line featuring, Nick Watkins,

Eric Curtis, Daniel Packham, Stephen Joslin and Paul Camerzell, will

have the added advantage of playing at home, Harbor’s first game at

Davidson Field since Week 1.

“I think it helps,” Brinkley said. “I don’t know how much. I know,

even from a coach’s standpoint, it’s that feeling of being

comfortable.”

The winner of this Sea View League opener has to feel a little

more comfortable knowing it may have dispatched its toughest league

opponent.