Newport Beach – The Newport Harbor High School football team kicked off the CIF-SS Division 6 playoffs with a 38-28 win over Sunny Hills on Friday at Davidson field.

Reporter:  Teran Rodriguez @TeranRodriguez

The Sailors (4-7, 2-3) will be on the road in the quarterfinals against Santa Barbara next Friday with a time to be determined. The Dons (8-3, 3-2) defeated Campbell Hall (10-1, 3-0) 36-20.

Newport Harbor wasted no time getting on the board, as Josiah Lamarque returned the opening kickoff 87 yards for a touchdown.

After the Sailors forced the Lancers (7-4, 4-1) to punt on their opening drive, AJ Guitron-Moore went to work, as he eventually found Kashton Henjum for a 24-yard score to double the lead to 14-0, which eventually became the first quarter score.

Defensively, the Sailors rose to the challenge, as Johnny Chaix stopped Nick Wilde on fourth down, which led to a turnover on downs. That eventually paved the way for Gruitron-Moore to unleash a 50-yard score to Lamarque after he nimbly evaded defenders following a screen pass, as they went up 21-0 near the midway point of the second quarter.

Sunny Hills eventually found the endzone when QB Max Spero threw a 50-yard bomb to Wilde for the score and after it forced Newport Harbor to go three and out on the following drive, Chris Pinawin broke open a 56-yard touchdown run to suddenly the lead was trimmed down to 21-14.

The Sailors didn’t panic, as Guitron-Moore orchestrated another touchdown drive, as he found Henjum in the endzone for a 4-yard score before halftime.

The Lancers pulled out all the tricks in the book, as they got the ball all the way down to the Newport Harbor four, only to be stopped on third down, but faked the field goal attempt on fourth down as Spero ran it in for a score. The Sailors appeared to have gotten a touchdown on their next drive, but Dane Soaper ripped the ball away while the ball never touched the ground and Miguel Berrios was there to recover it in the endzone.
Two plays later, Sunny Hills made Newport Harbor pay, as Spero found a wide opener Dylan Lawson for a 79-yard score, tying the game at 28-28. On the first play of the next drive, Hayden Farley ripped off an 80-yard touchdown run to put the Sailors back in front 35-28.

Farley, a senior, filled in for Peyton Irving, who was with injury.

The rest of the way, the Sailors shut out the Lancers, as they forced the opposition into negative plays, as they cashed in on a field goal after the Lancers went three and out to start the fourth quarter. The Sailors sealed the game with an interception from Billy Riley and were able to use the clock to their advantage, eventually celebrating the win.

Newport Harbor's Coach Lofthouse was pleased with his team's efforts.

----------Quick (unofficial) Stats--------

Passing
Guitron-Moore (NH)   14-28, 270 yards, 3-TDs, 1-Int
Spero (SH)   7-12, 179 yards, 2-TDs, 1-Int

Receiving
Henjum (NH)  7 catches, 140 yards  1-TD
Lamarque (NH)  4 catches, 84 yards  1-TD (also scored kickoff return TD)
Lawson (SH)  5 catches, 110 yards 1-TD
Wilde (SH) 1 catch, 50 yards, 1-TD

Rushing
Farley (NH)  19 carries  174 yards, 1-TD
Slater (NH)  10 carries  59 yards
Vaipae (SH)  20 carries  137 yards
Wilde (SH)  8 carries  76 yards, 1-TD