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  • Newport Harbor's Dayne Chalmers makes a touchdown catch against the...

    Newport Harbor's Dayne Chalmers makes a touchdown catch against the defense of Huntington Beach's Caleb Webb.

  • Newport Harbor's Sam Barela gets a high five from a...

    Newport Harbor's Sam Barela gets a high five from a coach after a touchdown in the second quarter during a Sunset League game at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa on Thursday, October 20, 2016. (Photo by Matt Masin, Orange County Register, SCNG)

  • Newport Harbor's fans watch the game during a Sunset League...

    Newport Harbor's fans watch the game during a Sunset League game at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa on Thursday, October 20, 2016. (Photo by Matt Masin, Orange County Register, SCNG)

  • Newport Harbor's Levi Hooper reels in a deep fade route...

    Newport Harbor's Levi Hooper reels in a deep fade route while Huntington Beach's Arick Mclawyer plays close defense during a Sunset League game at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa on Thursday, October 20, 2016. (Photo by Matt Masin, Orange County Register, SCNG)

  • Huntington Beach's Jeremiah Flanagan is brought down by his jersey...

    Huntington Beach's Jeremiah Flanagan is brought down by his jersey on a kick return during a Sunset League game at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa on Thursday, October 20, 2016. (Photo by Matt Masin, Orange County Register, SCNG)

  • Newport Harbor's Cole Kinder is tackled by Huntington Beach's Arick...

    Newport Harbor's Cole Kinder is tackled by Huntington Beach's Arick Mclawyer during a Sunset League game at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa on Thursday, October 20, 2016. (Photo by Matt Masin, Orange County Register, SCNG)

  • Huntington Beach's Jeremiah Flanagan,left, and Andrew Blokdyk bring Newport Harbor's...

    Huntington Beach's Jeremiah Flanagan,left, and Andrew Blokdyk bring Newport Harbor's Jake Bashore into the air as they tackle him out of bounds during a Sunset League game at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa on Thursday, October 20, 2016. (Photo by Matt Masin, Orange County Register, SCNG)

  • Newport Harbor's Cole Kinder brings Huntington Beach's Nick Napoli along...

    Newport Harbor's Cole Kinder brings Huntington Beach's Nick Napoli along with him as Kinder busts through a hole downfield during a Sunset League game at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa on Thursday, October 20, 2016. (Photo by Matt Masin, Orange County Register, SCNG)

  • Newport Harbor's Spencer Hook rolls out on a bootleg pass...

    Newport Harbor's Spencer Hook rolls out on a bootleg pass during a Sunset League game at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa on Thursday, October 20, 2016. (Photo by Matt Masin, Orange County Register, SCNG)

  • Huntington Beach's defense brings down Newport Harbor's Cole Kinder for...

    Huntington Beach's defense brings down Newport Harbor's Cole Kinder for a loss during a Sunset League game at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa on Thursday, October 20, 2016. (Photo by Matt Masin, Orange County Register, SCNG)

  • Huntington Beach's Caleb Webb is ran over by Newport Harbor's...

    Huntington Beach's Caleb Webb is ran over by Newport Harbor's Roger Sanborn during a Sunset League game at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa on Thursday, October 20, 2016. (Photo by Matt Masin, Orange County Register, SCNG)

  • Newport Harbor's Roger Sanborn is surrounded by Huntington Beach's defense...

    Newport Harbor's Roger Sanborn is surrounded by Huntington Beach's defense during a Sunset League game at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa on Thursday, October 20, 2016. (Photo by Matt Masin, Orange County Register, SCNG)

  • Newport Harbor's band performs at half time during a Sunset...

    Newport Harbor's band performs at half time during a Sunset League game at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa on Thursday, October 20, 2016. (Photo by Matt Masin, Orange County Register, SCNG)

  • Huntington Beach's Derek Thomas is tackled by Newport Harbor's Seth...

    Huntington Beach's Derek Thomas is tackled by Newport Harbor's Seth Wright in the first quarter during a Sunset League game at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa on Thursday, October 20, 2016. (Photo by Matt Masin, Orange County Register, SCNG)

  • Newport Harbor's Levi Hooper is short on this pass in...

    Newport Harbor's Levi Hooper is short on this pass in the end zone during a Sunset League game at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa on Thursday, October 20, 2016. (Photo by Matt Masin, Orange County Register, SCNG)

  • Newport Harbor's Dayne Chalmers jumps to catch a pass over...

    Newport Harbor's Dayne Chalmers jumps to catch a pass over a Huntington Beach defender during a Sunset League game at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa on Thursday, October 20, 2016. (Photo by Matt Masin, Orange County Register, SCNG)

  • Newport Harbor's band performs at half time during a Sunset...

    Newport Harbor's band performs at half time during a Sunset League game at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa on Thursday, October 20, 2016. (Photo by Matt Masin, Orange County Register, SCNG)

  • Newport Harbor's band performs at half time during a Sunset...

    Newport Harbor's band performs at half time during a Sunset League game at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa on Thursday, October 20, 2016. (Photo by Matt Masin, Orange County Register, SCNG)

  • Newport Harbor's band performs at half time during a Sunset...

    Newport Harbor's band performs at half time during a Sunset League game at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa on Thursday, October 20, 2016. (Photo by Matt Masin, Orange County Register, SCNG)

  • Newport Harbor's drum majors kick off the half time show...

    Newport Harbor's drum majors kick off the half time show during a Sunset League game at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa on Thursday, October 20, 2016. (Photo by Matt Masin, Orange County Register, SCNG)

  • Newport Harbor players sit on the sideline as Huntington Beach...

    Newport Harbor players sit on the sideline as Huntington Beach scores in the first quarter during a Sunset League game at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa on Thursday, October 20, 2016. (Photo by Matt Masin, Orange County Register, SCNG)

  • Newport Harbor captains Gage Roberson, Mike Jarboe, Levi Hooper and...

    Newport Harbor captains Gage Roberson, Mike Jarboe, Levi Hooper and Cole Kinder head to midfield for the coin toss during a Sunset League game at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa on Thursday, October 20, 2016. (Photo by Matt Masin, Orange County Register, SCNG)

  • Newport Harbor's Cole Oneil brushes off a tackle attempt from...

    Newport Harbor's Cole Oneil brushes off a tackle attempt from Nick Napoli during a Sunset League game at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa on Thursday, October 20, 2016. (Photo by Matt Masin, Orange County Register, SCNG)

  • Huntington Beach's Derek Thomas is brought down by Newport Harbor's...

    Huntington Beach's Derek Thomas is brought down by Newport Harbor's Cole Oneil in the second quarter during a Sunset League game at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa on Thursday, October 20, 2016. (Photo by Matt Masin, Orange County Register, SCNG)

  • Huntington Beach's Derek Thomas is held onto by Newport Harbor's...

    Huntington Beach's Derek Thomas is held onto by Newport Harbor's Brian Bailey in the first quarter during a Sunset League game at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa on Thursday, October 20, 2016. (Photo by Matt Masin, Orange County Register, SCNG)

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COSTA MESA – Cole Kinder rushed for 159 yards and a touchdown and Dayne Chalmers caught two touchdown passes for Newport Harbor in a 34-8 Sunset League win over Huntington Beach on Thursday at Orange Coast College.

It was a critical game for the playoff chances of both teams. Newport Harbor, ranked No. 25 in the county, improves to 2-1 in league play with league games remaining against Marina and Los Alamitos.

No. 24 Huntington Beach also is 2-1 in league with league games left against Edison and Los Alamitos.

The standings: Edison, which plays Marina Friday, is 2-0 in league; Newport Harbor and Huntington Beach, tied at 2-1; Los Alamitos is 1-1; and Marina and Fountain Valley are 0-2.

The top three finishers in the six-team Sunset League receive guaranteed entry into the CIF-Southern Section playoffs that begin Nov. 11. The league’s No. 4 team could be selected far an at-large berth if it has the required .500-or-better overall record.

Kinder was a busy back again. He had 35 carries, 21 in the first half. Kinder, a 6-foot-1, 207-pound senior, has 1,358 rushing yards and 20 rushing touchdowns this season in which he has averaged 26 carries a game.

“He’s a horse,” said Newport Harbor coach Jeff Brinkley, in his 31st season coaching the Sailors. “With the inexperienced quarterbacks we have, we’ve tried to build our offense toward what we do well.”

Newport Harbor rotated sophomore Sam Barela and junior Spencer Hook at quarterback and often had six linemen and two tight ends on the offensive line. Hook threw two touchdown passes, both to Chalmers, on Thursday. Barela threw a touchdown pass to Levi Hooper.

Huntington Beach took an 8-0 lead in the first quarter when Derek Thomas scored on a 6-yard run and Arick McLawyer added a 2-point conversion run. That lead lasted until the first play of the second quarter when Hook connected with Chalmers on an 8-yard touchdown pass to trim the Oilers’ lead to 8-7.

The Sailors took the lead for good with 3:52 to go in the second quarter on a 16-yard touchdown pass from Barela to Hooper to make it 14-8. Newport Harbor extended the lead to 21-8 on an 8-yard TD pass from Hook to Chalmers.

Chalmers’ second touchdown pass, this one covering 29 yards, in the third quarter pushed the Sailors’ lead to 27-8. Backup running back Chris Bailey, a senior, scored on a 2-yard run with 59 seconds remaining in the game to make it 34-8 and complete the scoring.

Huntington Beach missed the playoffs the past two seasons. The most recent the time Oilers made the playoffs, 2013, was a great time. They won the CIF-Southern Section Southwest Division championship. They beat Newport Harbor in the division championship game at Angel Stadium.

Newport Harbor plays Marina next Friday in a league game at Estancia High. Newport Harbor is using Estancia and Orange Coast College for home games while its on-campus stadium is being renovated.

Huntington Beach plays host to Los Alamitos in a league game next Thursday.

Huntington Beach’s other losses were to San Clemente, which is No. 8 in the Orange County top 25, No. 11 San Juan Hills and No. 16 Tesoro in nonleague games. The Oilers’ wins were over West Adams Prep of Los Angeles and Long Beach Wilson in nonleague games. They beat Fountain Valley at Marina in Sunset League games.

Newport Beach’s losses were to O.C. No. 10 Corona del Mar, Los Altos of Hacienda Heights, and Mira Costa of Manhattan Beach in nonleague, and to Edison in a Sunset League game. The Sailors beat Fountain Valley in a league game and in nonleague games defeated Pacifica and El Rancho of Pico Rivera.

Contact the writer: sfryer@scng.com