Newport Harbor Comes Up Big

In the matchup of big vs. quick, sometimes it pays to be Goliath.

Newport Harbor High’s Morgan Craig threw four touchdown passes and caught another as the third-seeded Sailors defeated visiting Cerritos, 36-25, in a second-round Division VI playoff game Friday night.

Newport Harbor (10-1-1), a Southern Section champion in 1999 and a runner-up last year, advances to the semifinals for the fourth consecutive season.

Cerritos (9-2), whose only other loss was to La Mirada, 21-20, was trying to reach the semifinals for the first time.

Newport Harbor will be the visitor next Saturday against La Mirada, an 49-25 winner over second-seeded Tustin Foothill.

Cerritos, a quick, athletic team, put 11 defensive players in the box and challenged Newport Harbor to run the ball.

The Sailors did, gaining 224 in 38 carries. Dartangan Johnson, with 24 carries for 103 yards behind the line of A.J. Slater (6 feet 5, 270 pounds), Robert Chai (6-3, 250), Jeff Marshall (6-5, 220), Chris Badorek (6-4, 270) and John Dobrott (6-7, 280), became the first runner this season to break 100 yards against Cerritos.

“You saw those guys--they pounded on us,” Cerritos Coach Kurt Bruich said. “When they needed big plays, they made them.”

Craig didn’t make a bad decision all night. He completed eight of 14 passes for 122 yards, and had touchdown passes of 11 and 15 yards to Brian Gaeta, 30 yards to Adam Kerns, and three yards to David Marshall.

Craig also caught a 15-yard touchdown pass from halfback Michael McDonald. It was Craig’s first reception, on a play Newport Harbor had not run this season.

“Mike threw a great ball to me,” Craig said.

“We made a lot of good plays, the line did a great job of protecting me.”

His touchdown reception gave Newport Harbor a 22-7 lead with 1:36 left in the first half.

Cerritos’s Jeff Swaim made field goals of 42 and 30 yards to cut the deficit to 22-13.

Craig also rushed six times for 37 yards, including a 12-yard run on third-down-and-nine with 1:20 remaining in the game to lock up the victory.

“He’s been playing like this all year,” Newport Harbor Coach Jeff Brinkley said. “And a couple of games he has won running the ball.

“He’s a winner. He’s won a lot of games in his two-year career, and that’s how we measure them around here.”

Cerritos’ Tim Austin rushed for 136 yards, including touchdowns of 10 and 23 yards, and passed for 114, including a 28-yard TD.