Published Thursday, October 8, 2009 11:1=
5 PM
PDT Sports Newport
Harbor coach goes for victory No. 200 at school as Sailors play host to M=
ira
Costa of Manhattan Beach.
No. 200 seems likely for Newport Harbor High Coach =
Jeff
Brinkley tonight.
Publi=
shed Brinkley close to
No. 200 Coach can earn 200th career victory at
Newport Harbor if Sailors win at Dana Hills. In his 24th year, Brinkley sou=
nded
a little excited a day before the nonleague game. Published Thursday,
October 1, 2009 11:30 PM PDT Sports |
![3D"http://www.dailypilot.com/content/articles/2009/10/18/sports/newpo=](3D"NHHSFootballNews-October2009_files/image003.jpg")
Daily Pilot High
School Football Player of the Week
Newport’s Rios starts strong
Sailors junior quarterback has played well
early on, helping guide Tars to 3-0 record to start the season.
By
David Carrillo Peñaloza
![3D"http://www.dailypilot.com/content/articles/2009/10/01/sports/newport=](3D"NHHSFootballNews-October2009_files/image005.jpg")
One second
remained on the clock before halftime, not much time for Austin Rios to scan
the football field for Newport Harbor High.
On the opponent’s 10-yard line, he spotted someone in the corner of h=
is
right eye. The junior quarterback knew very well the player to throw the ba=
ll
to for a touchdown.
The decision seemed like an easy one for a first-year
starter. Many made it for Rios before he tried last week against rival Coro=
na
del Mar.
The best player in the Battle of the Bay game was UC Berkeley-bound senior
Cecil Whiteside. At 6-foot-3, 222 pounds, the target was impossible to miss=
.
“The crowd knew we were going to Cecil," said Rios, who played in
front of about 8,000 fans at Orange Coast College. “The coaches knew =
we
were going to Cecil. The defense knew we were going to Cecil.”
Rios went the other way.
The play didn’t go as scripted, but Rios’ heady decision paid o=
ff.
With the defense consumed to the left side, where Whiteside lined up, Rios
remembered the receiver he saw in the periphery.
Rios hit the right receiver, the one to his right. An uncovered one has a
better chance of scoring than one with multiple defenders in his area.
Seconds after the Sea Kings failed to kill the clock in their own end, Rios
killed them for turning the ball over on downs. Rios found Parker Norton for
the first of his three touchdown passes as Newport Harbor went on to win, 3=
7-7.
Rios so far is making the correct decisions and the Sailors (3-0) are off to
their best start since 2005. That same year, Newport Harbor won their last =
CIF
Southern Section championship.
Whether the Sailors return to the top again depends a lot on Rios. Can he
continue to keep defenses from stacking the box against running back Cedric
Whitaker?
On a young team, Rios is showing he can. He is one of the leaders on a Newp=
ort
Harbor team ranked No. 10 in the CIF Southern Section Pac-5 Division poll.<=
br>
The quarterback has to take charge.
“The kids have a lot of confidence in him,” Newport Harbor Coach
Jeff Brinkley said. “I like the way he has led our football team.
“He’s a guy who’s a student of the game. He’s smart=
and
he wants to be really good.”
Rios has quickly learned under Brinkley what he likes and dislikes. The 6-f=
oot-3,
175-pounder is making his coach happy.
Rios wants to bring Brinkley more joy tonight in a nonleague game at Dana H=
ills
at 7. Brinkley is one victory away from No. 200 in his 24-year career with =
the
Sailors.
“He just wants to go out there and win football games,” Rios sa=
id
of Brinkley. “That’s [what] he communicates to us, ‘Just =
get
it done on the field and get it done right.’”
Rios is doing his part, earning the admiration of his offensive line. Whene=
ver
he can, Rios thanks left tackle Jake Taylor, left guard Brandon Coffey, cen=
ter
Connor Miki, right guard Jake Palanjian and right tackle Dillon Gillette for
protecting him.
Rios has thrown six touchdowns and two interceptions. Brinkley is pleased w=
ith
the touchdown-to-interception ratio.
He made one mistake in Newport Harbor’s big game against previously
ranked Loyola of Los Angeles on Sept. 17. On his 17th birthday, at least Ri=
os
came away with a 28-14 win at home in front of his No. 1 fan, his grandmoth=
er,
Aurora Rios.
As for Rios’ completion percentage, Brinkley applauds it. Rios is
completing 65% of his passes. He is 32 of 49 passing for 389 yards.
Rios has done a nice job spreading the ball around. Eight players have caug=
ht
at least one pass. He has shown the ability to throw the deep ball and fool
defenses with the play-action pass.
One of Rios’ favorite targets is fullback Ryan Andrews. The two hooke=
d up
once last week, the play going for 32 yards early in the second quarter and
setting up the team’s first score of the game.
Andrews caught a pass out of the backfield and pulled out a move unseen by =
him
in the open field, gaining the longest pass of the night.
“He’s a big guy with little guy moves,” Rios said of Andr=
ews,
a 6-1, 224-pound junior. “Everybody thinks he’s just going to r=
un
[the defensive back] over, but he throws down a little Cedric Whitaker [juk=
e]
and ran [by the tackler].
“I’m always giving him a hard time about his hands. He’s
always giving me a hard time.”
The person who really challenged Rios was his older brother, Alex Rios.
Alex was an offensive lineman on last year’s Newport Harbor team clai=
ming
a share of the Sunset League title. He offered the younger Rios some words
before leaving Newport Beach for San Luis Obispo.
“You know what Rios?” Alex told Austin. “You really need =
to
step up this year. You got to go out there and lead the team.”
This past weekend, Alex left Cuesta College, where he plans to play basebal=
l,
and visited his family.
He missed Newport Harbor’s game, but Austin told him all about it.
The two brothers had more than a second to catch up.
Publish=
ed Sports
Brinkley close to =
No.
200
Coach can earn 200th career victory at New=
port
Harbor if Sailors win at Dana Hills.
By
David Carrillo Peñaloza
TonightR=
17;s
a big football game for Newport Harbor High Coach Jeff Brinkley. He’ll
tell you the previous 280 have been as well.
Brinkley can record his 200th career victory at Newport Harbor if the Sailo=
rs
can beat host Dana Hills tonight at 7.
In his 24th year, Brinkley sounded a little excited a day
before the nonleague game.
“We’re just trying to win a game,” said Brinkley, who is
199-78-3 at Newport Harbor. “If we can do it [and get No. 200], it ju=
st
means we did it as a program.”
The Sailors, ranked No. 10 in the CIF Southern Section Pac-5 Division poll,=
are
off to a 3-0 start, their first since 2005. In the fourth game of the year =
that
season, Newport Harbor played Dana Hills and lost.
Dana Hills (2-1) wants history to repeat itself.
After last year’s devastating 25-24 loss at Newport Harbor, the Dolph=
ins
get another chance at the Sailors. The kicking game hurt Dana Hills in the =
last
game, missing a 40-yard field-goal attempt with one second left and a 35-ya=
rder
as time expired.
“We gave them second chances [last year],” said Newport Harbor
quarterback Austin Rios, referring to the second field-goal try, which Dana
Hills received after the Sailors were flagged for a running-into-the-kicker
penalty. “[Defensive coordinator Tony] Ciarelli, one of his big sayin=
gs
is, ‘Never give any team or anyone a second chance.’
“They’re looking for revenge.”
Newport Harbor faces a team that has played two teams currently ranked in t=
he
top 10 in their respective divisions.
Edison is No. 1 in the Pac-5 and El Toro is No. 9 in the Southwest. The
Dolphins lost to Edison, 34-17, and beat El Toro, 34-20.
The Dolphins also had an extra week to prepare for the Sailors, who are com=
ing
off impressive back-to-back victories.
Newport Harbor last week beat Back Bay rival CdM, 37-7, and Loyola of Los
Angeles, 28-14, on Sept. 17. At the time, CdM was No. 2 in the Southern
Division and Loyola No. 10 in the Pac-5 Division.
“It’s going to be a tough game again,” said Brinkley, who=
is
2-2 against Dana Hills the last four years.
One advantage the host school might not have against the Sailors is more fa=
ns.
Expect to see many in the visitor’s stands because Brinkley is closin=
g in
on a coaching milestone only seven other coaches in Orange County have reac=
hed.