San Juan Hills snaps Newport Harbor football winning streak

SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO —  For the third straight week the Newport Harbor High football team did not score a touchdown on offense in the first half.

The recent history — comeback wins over Tesoro and Corona del Mar to open Bravo League play — might suggest the Sailors had host San Juan Hills right where they wanted them on Friday night.

The Stallions, however, were up to the challenge.

Junior quarterback Timmy Herr threw three touchdown passes as San Juan Hills earned a 30-7 victory, moving into outright first place in the league with two games remaining.

San Juan Hills improved to 7-1 overall and 3-0 in league. Newport Harbor, which had a three-game winning streak snapped, is now 3-5 overall and 2-1 in league.

Defense dominated for the Stallions, with junior Landon Grant getting a pair of quarterback sacks. Newport Harbor totaled just 80 yards of offense for the game, and four first downs.

First-year Newport Harbor head coach Matt Burns, shown guiding his team earlier this year, saw the Sailors’ three-game winning streak snapped on Friday night.

(Don Leach / Staff Photographer)

“We came out with a lot of effort and we just came out ready to bang, play physical,” Grant said. “It was a big game, big fight for first place, and we knew we just had to come out with a lot of energy and fight.”

San Juan Hills coach Rob Frith said Grant took advantage of his opportunity, with the Stallions’ usual starter at defensive end out sick.

“It starts with our defense,” Frith said. “Our defense was forcing a lot of three and outs, we weren’t giving up a lot of first downs to them. Our defense gave our offense an opportunity to control the ball, and we had some really key third-down conversions again tonight that allowed us to extend drives and run a lot of plays.

“When you control the clock like that, it really puts a lot of pressure on the opposing team’s offense. They’ve got to score, because they don’t know if they’re going to get the ball back. I’ve been on the other side of that, and it’s stressful.”

San Juan Hills, which came in ranked No. 22 in the state by MaxPreps.com, ran 57 plays on offense. Newport Harbor ran just 27.

The Sailors’ only touchdown came courtesy of the special teams. After Herr found Ryan Matheson on a seven-yard touchdown pass, Newport Harbor senior Cade Fegel took the ensuing kickoff back 98 yards for a touchdown.

San Juan Hills responded with a drive that took nearly nine minutes off the clock, ending when Herr connected with Luke Frith on a 16-yard score. The Stallions converted three third downs and a fourth down on the drive.

“We were really good at the point of attack, but we missed about 10 tackles at the point of attack, which gave them a couple of big first downs that kept their drives going,” said Sailors head coach Matt Burns, who is also the defensive coordinator. “A couple of third downs, the linebackers weren’t covering the curls. Just little things that technically should be covered, we didn’t do it … We’ve just got to turn the page, learn from this and move on.”

The Stallions were driving for another touchdown just before the half, but Newport Harbor recovered a Herr fumble on a keeper from the 1-yard line in the end zone.

Undeterred, the hosts went on another long drive to start the third quarter and never looked back, capping it with an eight-yard rushing score by Elijah Ayala.

Newport Harbor plays at Yorba Linda (7-1, 2-1 in league) on Friday night. It figures to be another tough matchup, as the Mustangs are ranked No. 29 in the state.

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Bravo League

San Juan Hills 30, Newport Harbor 7

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Newport Harbor 0 - 7 - 0 - 0 — 7

San Juan Hills 3 - 13 - 7 - 7 — 30

FIRST QUARTER

SJH — Maganda 26 FG, 7:23.

SECOND QUARTER

SJH — Matheson 7 pass from Herr (run failed), 11:55.

NH — Fegel 98 kickoff return, 11:40.

SJH — Frith 16 pass from Herr (Maganda kick), 2:47.

THIRD QUARTER

SJH — Ayala 8 run (Maganda kick), 5:16.

FOURTH QUARTER

SJH — Vuoso 22 pass from Herr (Maganda kick), 6:14.

INDIVIDUAL RUSHING

NH — J. Stremick, 5-8.

SJH — Ayala, 15-101, 1 TD.

INDIVIDUAL PASSING

NH — Meer, 13-19-0, 90.

SJH — Herr, 19-23-0, 199, 3 TDs.

INDIVIDUAL RECEIVING

NH — McKibbin, 3-28.

SJH — Frith, 7-95, 1 TD.