NEWPORT BEACH – On a night when Newport Harbor’s Keaton Cablay stole the show on offense, it was his play on defense that sealed a win for the Sailors on a wild homecoming night.
Cablay intercepted a Huntington Beach pass in the end zone as time expired, and the Sailors won Friday night, 52-48, in a Sunset League thriller and rematch of the 2013 CIF-SS Southwest Division final.
The Sailors (3-3, 1-0) trailed Huntington Beach, 42-31, after three quarters of play. After a see-saw fourth quarter that saw a combined 28 points scored, Cablay caught his fourth touchdown of the night with 29 seconds remaining, giving the Sailors a late lead.
The Oilers (1-5, 0-1) marched down and took the ball inside Newport Harbor’s 20 with a chance to win the game with three seconds remaining. All Newport Harbor coach Jeff Brinkley could do was hold his breath.
“I’m just hoping we can dodge one more bullet,” Brinkley said with a smile. “You sit there and just hopes somebody steps up.”
As was the case all night, Cablay made a play when it mattered.
The senior had 181 receiving yards and four touchdowns to go with his game-sealing interception.
Cole Norris threw for 353 yards and six touchdowns in what was a back-and-forth game the entire night. Huntington Beach’s Hunter Simmons scored on a 25-yard touchdown run with 2:06 left in the game to give the Oilers a 48-45 lead. Simmons ran for 255 yards and three touchdowns on the night.
But Norris converted on a pair of fourth-downs late on the Sailors’ final drive that kept his teams hopes alive.
“Cole played great,” Brinkley said. “He stepped up and made the throws and guys made some catches.”
Revenge for last year’s CIF finals loss wasn’t in the back of Newport Harbor’s heads leading into the week, Brinkley said.
But he’ll be the first to tell you that winning a game like this is going to do a lot for his team going forward.
The Sailors face Los Alamitos next week, and he expects his team to carry that momentum.
“It’s huge. You lose a game like that, it just takes out all the energy from your group. It’s really tough to rebound,” Brinkley said. “Now we’ll go (to Los Alamitos) hopefully with some energy.”
Contact the writer: mkatz@ocregister.com
