Two-minute drill

The 10-year reunion of Newport Harbor High’s 1994 CIF Southern Section Division V championship football team that finished 14-0 was

inspiration for the current team, Sailors Coach Jeff Brinkley said.

Some of the former players spoke to the current players before the

Tars’ 21-7 Sea View League home victory over Aliso Niguel Thursday.

“[The alumni] mostly reinforced what [the coaches] talk about with

the players,” Brinkley said. “Work hard, play hard and have fun.”

The 15 members in attendance included quarterback John Giordani,

running back/defensive back Brian Johnson, fullback/linebacker Matt

Riggle, noseguard/guard Bill Johns, tight end/linebacker Dan

McDonough, receiver/safety Dan Eadie, receiver/defensive back Dan

Berger, offensive and defensive linemen Jack Hogan, Tom Eaton,

Brandon Hetrick, Brandon Baker, Moises Piedra and Marcos Muniz, as

well as quarterback Josiah Fredriksen and fullback/linebacker Joe

Urban.

* Brinkley was treated to another blast from the past before the

Aliso game. His former high school coach and mentor, Bob Larson, was

on the sideline.

“It must have been a big game if Bob was there,” Brinkley said.

“He is a great, great man. I walked over and gave him a hug.”

Larson was an assistant coach at Newport from 1989-93.

* Charles Cuny, the Sherman Indian athletic director and a Native

American, was a founding member of the University of Northern

Colorado intramural basketball team called “The Fighting Whities”

that brought national attention to insensitive Native American sports

mascots.

While a recent California initiative was vetoed by Governor

Schwarzenegger that would have made it illegal for schools to use

“Redskins” as a mascot, Sherman Indian would have been exempt for

multiple reasons.

First, athletic teams at Sherman Indian are the Braves, and,

second, the school is federally funded through the Bureau of Internal

Affairs.

* Sage Hill School, which beat Sherman Indian, 14-0, Friday, held

an opponent to fewer than 100 rushing yards (57) for the fifth

straight game. It also marked the third time the Lightning have held

a team to fewer than 100 offensive yards (57).

The 244 rushing yards Sage collected signaled the fifth game the

Lightning have reached 200 or more rushing yards. Sage has rushed for

1,661 through the first seven games this year. In the 18 games of the

first previous two seasons, the Lightning have rushed for a combined

1,538.

* The banner the Newport players run through before the start of

the third quarter was positioned dangerously close to midfield. As

the players burst through the banner, they almost ran over the

referees and captains meeting near the 50-yard line.

The referees moved out of the way just in time to avoid being

trampled.

* Former Costa Mesa High coach Dave Perkins greeted the Mustangs

with plenty of handshakes, hugs and congratulatory words following

Mesa’s 25-22 Golden West League victory over host Ocean View Friday

night.

Perkins is now an assistant with Mater Dei’s freshman team, but

current Mesa Coach Tom Baldwin put him right to work in the postgame

excitement.

Baldwin had Perkins lead the team in a short prayer.

After the prayer, the players hooted and hollered as they

scattered to celebrate.

Perkins, Mesa’s former boys athletic director, led the Mustangs to

a 20-12 record in three seasons, including a Golden West League

championship in 2002, before being fired from his football post July

23.

Baldwin said Perkins, who still teaches at Mesa, has attended

several games this season.

* Jordan Smith, a senior girls volleyball player bound for UCLA,

was named Corona del Mar Homecoming Queen at halftime of the Sea

Kings’ 27-14 loss to Northwood Friday at Newport Harbor High.

The homecoming court also included Smith’s volleyball teammate

Britta Nielsen.

* Calvary Chapel High football coach Lyle Lansdell, an assistant

at CdM for eight seasons, has enlisted the help of several former Sea

King players this season.

Lansdell, whose Eagles followed a 35-0 loss to CdM on Oct. 16 with

a surprising 33-28 league win over University Thursday, said he has

already had former CdM stars Josh Walz and Mike McClellan relate

their experiences in high school and college to his players.

Lansdell said CdM product George Sumner has agreed to speak to his

players soon.

Walz, a quarterback and defensive back at CdM and Sumner, a

receiver, played collegiately at Georgetown. McClellan, a

quarterback, played at Yale.

* A 20-minute delay caused by the lights going out, combined with

a rare 7:30 p.m. start, conspired to push the finish of the Estancia

High-Westminster game Thursday night at Orange Coast College past 10

p.m.

Tim Parsel, Estancia’s boys athletic director, said the 7:30 start

was dictated by OCC, which has night classes beginning at 7 p.m. and

hopes to avoid a parking logjam by hosting a football game with the

same start time.

* Estancia sophomore Stephen Ruby has earned a starting job on

offense as the Eagles’ left guard. But he still has not been

outfitted with the same jersey as his teammates.

Ruby wore a maroon jersey with white numerals used by the junior

varsity against Westminster, a contrast to the cardinal jerseys with

gold numbers and shoulder stripes worn by the rest of the varsity.

* Westminster High senior running back Carlos Brooks loves playing

against Estancia. Brooks rushed or 243 yards on 23 carries in just

three quarters Thursday.

As a junior, he had 222 rushing yards and three TDs against the

Eagles and amassed 142 rushing yards with two TDs against Estancia as

a sophomore. He wraps up a three-game varsity career against the

Eagles with a 10.8-yard average on 56 carries.

* Corona del Mar student Jackie Colgate performed a memorably

outstanding version of the national anthem before the Sea Kings’ game

Saturday.

* Costa Mesa’s victory Friday marked the first time this season

the Mustangs held an opponent scoreless the final two quarters.

Mesa’s previous best in the final 24 minutes came in Week 1, when

Brea Olinda managed just seven points.

Baldwin insisted the Mustangs didn’t change much in the second

half against Ocean View. A missed tackle and a failed attempt at an

interception, he said, led to the Seahawks’ first two TDs and a 15-0

lead.

Despite being down, 22-8, Mesa senior linebacker Jeff Waldron

never lost faith.

“You have to pretend it’s 0-0, come out and play hard like it’s

the beginning of the game,” Waldron said. “The defense stepped up. We

knew we could play good.”

* The Mustangs (2-6, 2-2 in the Golden West League) have a bye

before facing Orange (6-2, 3-1 in league) at Orange Coast College

Nov. 5.

Mesa finds itself in a logjam for the league’s three guaranteed

berths into the CIF Southern Section Division VII playoffs.

Mesa and Saddleback are tied for third place behind Westminster

(3-0) and Orange.

The Mustangs face crosstown rival Estancia (1-2) to close the

season Nov. 12 at Orange Coast College.