Sailors dominate at Mira Costa

MANHATTAN BEACH — Early on in the football season, Newport Harbor High Coach Jeff Brinkley saw a different quarterback than the one he saw in the summer.

The pop on Andrew McDonald’s ball was missing. McDonald wasn’t himself.

“He was a little bit sick,” Brinkley said. “It seemed like arm strength and everything, [he] was struggling a little bit, even in practice I could see it.”

McDonald finally played quarterback the way Brinkley expected him to in a game. He fired precise passes all over the field.

In trouble and on the run, McDonald was a gunslinger.

Last week, it was a dramatic finish for the Sailors. McDonald made sure this Friday night at Mira Costa of Manhattan Beach was a laugher from the start.

The senior threw three touchdown passes in the first half as Newport Harbor won its final nonleague game, 42-14.

Two weeks is how much time Mira Costa planned for McDonald and the Sailors.

McDonald unveiled a new McDonald. He hit three players for scores and completed 10 of 15 passes for 196 yards and three touchdowns, the last two stats being season highs.

Good timing as the Sailors (4-1) open Sunset League play next week.

“He looks physically strong and healthy again,” Brinkley said of McDonald. “He just keeps getting better each week.

“He’s throwing the ball the way we thought he would coming [into the season].”

The real season begins now.

McDonald and company can’t wait to get started. The first opponent is Edison (4-1), ranked No. 7 in the CIF Southern Section Pac-5 Division.

The Sailors remember last season’s score. Forty-seven to zero is how Edison won at Davidson Field to claim the league title.

This time, a share of the league crown will not be at stake as was the case in last season’s regular-season finale between Newport Harbor and Edison.

But the Sailors will never forget Edison handing them their largest margin of defeat since 1967.

“They’ve gotten us,” McDonald said of the Sailors losing to the Chargers twice since joining the Sunset League in 2006. “Our line did a great job [against Mira Costa] and gave me a lot of time to throw. We just got to [duplicate it].

“We have something to prove.”

Immediately against the Mustangs (2-3), the Sailors jumped on them.

It was Newport Harbor, 14-0before the locals could get off the congested 405 Freeway.

Mira Costa, coming off a bye, stood no chance.

On the opening possession, running back Danny Miller capped an 11-play, 80-yard drive with a one-yard plunge on fourth-and-goal.

The ensuing kickoff was for Mira Costa, but the returner couldn’t grab it off the turf. Newport Harbor recovered the loose ball on the opponent’s 21.

Five plays later, McDonald went to work. A play-action call to the right and McDonald connected with tight end Ned Lyon for an eight-yard touchdown.

“They’re known for being a physical team,” McDonald said of the Mustangs, who managed 72 rushing yards. “We just needed to come out and hit them hard, take the game to them.”

The Sailors never let up, coming up with three fumbles and one interception.

In the second quarter, Miller, playing cornerback, intercepted quarterback Adam Lawrence’s 21-yard pass in the end zone, ending a threat.

Almost five minutes later, Lyon, playing linebacker, recovered wide receiver Kyle Nunn’s fumble on Mira Costa’s 30.

Those two turnovers led to McDonald touchdown passes.

The final two throws before halftime resulted in McDonald going deep.

The last one went to Cecil Whiteside down the Tars’ sideline for a 30-yard score.

The first was a 46-yarder in which he led a flying JB Green toward the end zone. The wide receiver reached out with his fingertips and hauled in the ball before getting tackled in the end zone.

How the senior hung on was amazing, especially after Green couldn’t keep down his food the night before.

“I was actually sick, stomach flu and stuff,” said Green, after collecting four catches for 85 yards and rushing for a 23-yard score. “There was [a pass] before that I dropped and I was pretty mad about that one, so I had to come back and get a touchdown.”

McDonald was just doing his job.

“I didn’t even really see it,” McDonald said of the TD pass to Green. “I had some pressure in my face. I just gave him a chance and he made a great play.”

NEWPORT HARBOR 42, MIRA COSTA 14

Newport Harbor 14-18-7-3---42

Mira Costa 7-0-0-7---14

FIRST QUARTER

NH — Miller 1 run (Freiberg kick), 7:30.

NH — Lyon 8 pass from McDonald (Freiberg kick), 5:52.

MC — Wright 15 pass from DeMarco (Sofen kick), 1:10.

SECOND QUARTER

NH — Freiberg 35 FG, 8:59.

NH — Green 46 pass from McDonald (Freiberg kick), 3:21.

NH — Whiteside 30 pass from McDonald (Whiteside pass from McDonald), 1:47.

THIRD QUARTER

NH — Green 23 run (Freiberg kick), 11:44.

FOURTH QUARTER

NH — Freiberg 23 FG, 9:00.

MC — Nunn 29 pass from DeMarco (Sofen kick), 6:47.

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INDIVIDUAL RUSHING

NH — Helfrich, 16-91; Green, 2-19, 1 TD; Miller, 11-18, 1 TD; Chandler, 2-18; McDonald, 3-13; Gute, 5-11; Andrews, 1-6; Davis, 1-3.

MC — Loatman, 12-26; Tam, 1-25; Lawrence, 2-18; Lockwood, 1-5; Wright, 3-4; Nunn, 1-1; DeMarco, 3-2; Morgan, 1-0.

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INDIVIDUAL PASSING

NH — McDonald, 10-15-0, 196, 3 TDs; Rios, 3-3-0, 29.

MC — DeMarco, 7-10-0, 98, 2 TDs; Lawrence, 6-13-1, 110.

INDIVIDUAL RECEIVING

NH — Green, 4-85, 1 TD; Whiteside, 3-74, 1 TD; Lyon, 2-23, 1 TD; Helfrich, 1-14; Diller, 1-13; Norton, 1-10; Jacobi, 1-6.

MC — Nunn, 5-134, 1 TD; Tam, 3-36; Miller, 3-27; Wright, 1-15, 1 TD; Morrow, 1-minus 4.

DAVID CARRILLO PEÑALOZA may be reached at (714) 966-4612 or at [email protected].