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Published Saturday, September 12, 2009 1=
2:53
AM PDT
Sports
Freiberg
highlights win
Newport Harbor
kicker sets Orange County record for consecutive extra-point kicks in
Tars’ victory.
![3D"http://www.dailypilot.com/content/articles/2009/09/11/sports/newpo=](3D"NewportHarborFootball-AlisoNiguel9-11-09_files/image003.jpg")
Newport Harbor High senior Dil=
lan
Freiberg (17) kicks extra point, an Orange County-record 59th straight, w=
ith
Parker Norton holding.
By David Carrillo Peñaloza
ALISO VIEJO — Two coaches met on the football fi=
eld
Friday night and each left in opposite directions.
One is three wins shy of No. 200. The other is in charge of a program whi=
ch
hasn’t won in its last 18 games.
Coach Jeff Brinkley was the one walking away with a sm=
ile
after Newport Harbor High’s season opener.
Once again, Coach Jeff Veeder saw Aliso Niguel falter.
The Sailors routed the Wolverines, 45-7, on a night in which their longti=
me
coach inched closer to a milestone and their kicker surpassed one.
Newport Harbor scored six touchdowns, giving senior kicker Dillan Freiberg
the opportunity to claim an Orange County record.
Freiberg converted every PAT, setting a record for consecutive extra-point
kicks with 60. Irvine’s Tommy Louie had held the record of 58 strai=
ght.
It’s probably a good thing Freiberg got the record before next week
because the Sailors are in for a challenge.
Newport Harbor returns home to play host to Loyola of Los Angeles, which =
went
into Friday ranked No. 9 in the CIF Southern Section Pac-5 Division
coaches’ poll.
“This is just preparing us,” Newport Harbor standout Cecil
Whiteside said of facing Loyola and running back Anthony Barr, a 6-foot-4,
230-pound senior considered the top back in the state.
“We kind of have a young team, so we kind of had some jitters out
there.”
Whiteside, one of the few players with varsity experience, settled Newport
Harbor down after a sluggish start at Aliso Niguel (0-2).
The UC Berkeley-bound senior contributed at linebacker and wide receiver.=
He
recovered a fumble early in the third quarter to set up a score. Midway
through the quarter, he hauled in a 57-yard pass for a touchdown.
Whiteside hooked up with new starting quarterback Austin Rios four times =
for
99 yards. Rios looked sharp at times. The senior threw three touchdown
passes, finishing with 138 yards on seven-for-10 passing.
“We weren’t happy about the turnover down [near the red zone]=
. We
had a touchdown probably,” Brinkley said of an interception in the
second quarter. “I thought he ran the offense well and put us in a
position to win the game.”
The game began with more delays than on the 405 Freeway during rush hour.
Four times in the first couple of minutes the game was stopped.
Officials failed to figure out what was going on and Aliso Niguel lined up
incorrectly, pushing the offense back twice before snapping the ball.
The confusion continued. Both teams committed more penalties and turned t=
he
ball over once in the first quarter.
In the final minute of the opening quarter, things settled down.
Newport Harbor jumped to a 10-0 lead. Freiberg converted a 25-yard field =
goal
with 33 seconds left. A 34-yard pass from Rios to Whiteside on the sideli=
ne
put the Sailors near the red zone.
With single coverage, Whiteside out-jumped the smaller cornerback. Rios w=
ent
to his 6-foot-3, 222-pound receiver again.
Rios misfired on a slant to Whiteside over the middle on a third-and-seven
situation, forcing Newport Harbor to settle for a field goal. The offense=
got
another chance to score a touchdown 15 seconds later.
An interception by lineman Zack Moghaddam off a tipped ball gave Newport
Harbor great field position. On the first play, Rios hit Ryan Andrews on a
play-action pass. Rios rolled to his right and completed his first touchd=
own
pass, an 18-yarder with nine seconds to go in the first.
Rios would find his fullback again. This time in the second quarter after
Aliso Niguel’s punter mishandled a snap, burying the WolverinesR=
17;
defense on their 15-yard line.
A couple of minutes earlier, Jacob Wilson bobbled a snap on a punt. Someh=
ow
he recovered the ball, broke a couple of tackles and raced toward Aliso
Niguel’s sideline for a first down.
Wilson needed one yard. He gained three, and with 6:35 in the second Aliso
Niguel recorded a first down for the first time.
Wilson wasn’t so fortunate on the second snafu on the snap to the
punter. The distance for a first down was much more, 19 yards. Wilson dro=
pped
the ball again, and ran right before losing his footing and getting tackl=
ed
by the Sailors.
Two yards is how many Newport Harbor allowed Wilson.
The Sailors took advantage of another mistake by the Wolverines. They wen=
t to
the same play that worked earlier for a score.
Play action was called and Rios again rolled to his right, hitting Andrews
for a 15-yard touchdown, giving the Sailors a 17-0 lead with 4:05 left be=
fore
halftime.
Freiberg converted his second of six extra points. Brinkley knew his kick=
er
was on his way to making history.
“That was great for him,” Brinkley said. “You have to g=
ive
a lot of credit to [Ryan] Iverson, who’s been his long-snapper thro=
ugh
this thing.”
Brinkley is next. Three more wins and he has 200 at Newport Harbor.
Newport
Harbor 45, Aliso Niguel 7
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Newport Harbor 10-7-21-7--45
Aliso Niguel 0-0-0-7--7
FIRST QUARTER
NH — Freiberg 25 FG, :33.
NH — Andrews 18 pass from Rios (Freiberg kick), 0:09.
SECOND QUARTER
NH — Andrews 15 pass from Rios (Freiberg kick), 4:05.
THIRD QUARTER
NH — Whitaker 42 run (Freiberg kick), 11:17.
NH — Gomez 1 run (Freiberg kick), 6:44.
NH — Whiteside 57 pass from Rios (Freiberg kick), 5:14.
FOURTH QUARTER
NH — Whitaker 72 fumble return (Freiberg kick), 8:17.
AN — Long 13 run (Perez kick), 1:39.
INDIVIDUAL RUSHING
NH — Whitaker, 4-59, 1 TD; Diller, 8-39; Andrews, 4-33; Swie=
s,
4-16; Gomez, 3-4, 1 TD; Rios, 3-minus 6; Blower, 1-minus 8.
AN — Long, 15-33, 1 TD; Carroll, 10-32; Hwang, 3-13; Wilson,
2-4; Robinson, 2-2; Galosic, 5-minus 12.
INDIVIDUAL PASSING
NH — Rios, 7-10-1, 138, 3 TDs.
AN — Galosic, 8-23-1, 65; Ossola, 1-1-0, 49.
INDIVIDUAL RECEIVING
NH — Whiteside, 4-99, 1 TD; Andrews, 2-33; 2 TDs; Gomez, 1-6=
.
AN — Romano, 5-87; Abdulla, 2-19; Robinson, 2-8.<=
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