CIF playoff bids growing scarce

Patrick Laverty

It’s the final week of the regular season and not a single team from

the Newport-Mesa district has qualified for the postseason.

Newport Harbor, Corona del Mar and Costa Mesa still have a chance

to make the CIF Southern Section playoffs in their respective

divisions, but nothing is guaranteed.

Each school needs a win this week. For the Sea Kings, a victory

will definitely put them in the playoffs. The Sailors will likely

lock up a spot with a win. Costa Mesa, on the other hand, needs some

help even with a victory.

Corona del Mar is the only team that can receive an automatic

playoff berth. The Sea Kings (5-3-1, 2-1-1 in Pacific Coast League

play) would finish third in their league by defeating University

Friday at 7 p.m. at Irvine High.

Though they lost, 28-21 in overtime, to Tesoro Friday, the game

counts as a tie for both teams according to Corona del Mar Coach Dick

Freeman, with the overtime period played solely for breaking a tie,

should the teams finish with the same record in league.

It is a rule instituted by the league’s coaches prior to this

season, Freeman said, eliminating the need to flip a coin should

teams tie with the same record.

“We did it to make the playoff thing easier, but not to hurt the

team that [lost in overtime],” Freeman said. “There’s no real reason

to play overtime because the losing team’s better off with a tie.

Give me a choice and we’ll stick with the tie.”

Tesoro, which plays Northwood this week, and Corona del Mar could

both finish league with 3-1-1 records. But the Titans will go into

the playoffs as the league’s No. 2 team because of its overtime

victory over the Sea Kings.

The tie also helps Corona del Mar should it lose to University. A

loss would leave the Sea Kings vying for an at-large berth, likely

against Sunny Hills (6-3), which finishes the regular season against

Troy (7-2). Corona del Mar defeated Troy, 22-7, earlier this season.

The Sea Kings head into the season finale coming off one of their

best performances of the year, despite the final score.

“We did a lot of good things,” Freeman said. “That’s the hardest

we’ve hit. That’s the most focused we’ve been.”

Corona del Mar amassed nearly 400 yards of offense behind a

dominant offensive line that featured Robby Richey at right tackle,

Armand Lapuz at right guard, Chris Reilly at center, Andy Lujan at

left tackle and a combination of Sean Ellis and Andrew Keligian at

right guard.

“The offensive line is just hard work,” Freeman said. “They’re not

the most athletic guys, but they need to pack a lunch, put on a blue

collar and stay on a block.”

* NEWPORT HARBOR: The Sailors took care of their first bit of

business by defeating Laguna Hills, 18-14, Friday. A loss would have

all but eliminated them from playoff contention.

Though Harbor (6-3, 1-3 in Sea View League play) would still be a

viable option for the Division VI at-large berth if it was to lose to

Woodbridge this week, a win would almost certainly solidify a fifth

consecutive playoff appearance for Coach Jeff Brinkley’s Tars.

“If we win this week, I’d be shocked if we weren’t the at-large

team,” Brinkley said. “We would have the best record, coming out of a

tough league and we will have won our last two games.”

The only other team that could have seven wins and not receive an

automatic berth is Gahr (6-3), a free-lance entry that closes out its

regular season against La Mirada (7-2) this week.

Getting to six wins was a difficult task for Harbor, which fell

behind Laguna Hills, 14-3, at halftime Friday. But after losing its

first three league games by a combined 13 points, the Sailors seemed

to get over the hump in the second half, though it took a rare

motivational speech from Brinkley at halftime.

“Mostly, I was disappointed in our lack of effort,” Brinkley said.

“I’ve had teams ever since I started coaching at Excelsior, we’ve had

teams without very good records, but that always gave a lot of

effort. I wasn’t really seeing that effort from our guys.”

That changed in the second half as the Sailors held Laguna Hills

scoreless and scored 15 unanswered points. The key was a goal-line

stand that turned the Hawks away after they had recovered a fumble at

the Sailors’ 7-yard line.

“I don’t know if the intensity goes up or what happens,” Brinkley

said of the defense’s effort on the ensuing four plays. “I just think

the players knew that their backs were up against the wall.”

The Sailors will be approaching the regular-season finale against

Woodbridge in a similar manner.

Left guard Eric Curtis, who has missed the last two games with a

high-ankle sprain could return this week, while safety Alex Orth, who

did not play because of back problems against Laguna Hills, also

might return.

James Coder started in place of Orth on Friday, giving the Sailors

two sophomores in the secondary, with Ryan Rippon at strong safety.

Coder played well on defense and also made a key 22-yard reception on

offense, taking a pass from sophomore Tom Jackson, who continued to

play well in place of the injured Kasey Peters.

“We’ve had to go with some young guys and they’ve stepped up,”

Brinkley said.

* COSTA MESA: The Mustangs could have put themselves in a position

to return to the Division VII playoffs for the third consecutive

season, but fell, 20-6, to Westminster Friday.

The loss leaves Costa Mesa (5-4, 2-3 in Golden West League play)

assured of finishing out of the top three spots in league and hoping

for an at-large berth if it can defeat Santa Ana (4-5, 1-4) Friday.

“I think we’re in pretty good shape,” Mustangs Coach Dave Perkins

said. “With a win Friday night, I think we’re OK”

Though a win would give the Mustangs six victories, there could be

as many as two other teams with seven wins also vying for the lone

at-large berth. La Serna (7-2), the most likely candidate, won its

first seven games of the season, but has to play Santa Fe, ranked No.

1 in the division, this week. A loss would knock La Serna out of the

top three spots in the Del Rio League.

Perkins, who will submit the Mustangs’ bid for a playoff spot as

the Golden West League representative, said that part of the at-large

process comes down to how a team finishes the season. With a loss

this week, La Serna will have dropped three straight games. The

Mustangs, if they can defeat Santa Ana, will have won two of their

last three.

“We’ve only lost to teams that are playoff teams,” Perkins said.

“We’ve beaten Huntington Beach, who is a Division I team. We’ve been

ranked in the top 10 all year. I think we’d be a good

representative.”

If the Mustangs don’t reach the playoffs, it would be a crushing

blow to a senior-laden team that won the Golden West League title

last season.

“It’d be very disappointing,” Perkins said. “But things just

haven’t gone our way when we needed them to go our way.”

If Costa Mesa is to have any hope of avoiding that disappointment,

it will have to make sure the Santa Ana game goes its way.

“We’ve got to win Friday night and we’ve got to win convincingly,”

Perkins said.

* ESTANCIA: The Eagles, who have lost five in a row and their last

two games by a combined score of 89-0, ended their Golden West League

campaign with a 48-0 loss to Orange Friday. With one game to go for

this year’s class of seniors, things don’t get much easier this week.

Estancia (3-6, 1-5 in league) will play host to Pacifica (6-3) at

Newport Harbor High on Thursday. The Mariners have already wrapped up

second place in the Garden Grove League and seem to be rolling into

the playoffs.

Pacifica has won four straight and scored at least 43 points in

their last three games. For the season, the Mariners are averaging

37.4 points per game.

* SAGE HILL: The Lightning (1-7, 0-2 in Academy League play) close

the season Thursday at home against Brethren Christian (2-5-2, 0-2).

It will be the final high school game for the five seniors on the

Sage Hill roster. They are: tailback Eddie Huang; fullback Ray Lim;

receiver Alex Cochoran; linebacker Peter Haderlein; and defensive end

Marcel Sohl.