Fountain Valley sloppy but beats Newport Harbor

NEWPORT BEACH - It's difficult to win in the Sunset League, and Fountain Valley did win Thursday night.

The Barons' 37-32 league victory over Newport Harbor keeps them undefeated overall (8-0) and in league (3-0)  going into next week's big game against Edison.

But for Fountain Valley coach John Shipp, too much of the game was difficult to watch.

"Penalties, special-team breakdowns," he said. "Against good teams, you can't do that. It's a win, but we've got a lot of work to do before next week."

The Barons, ranked No. 4 in Orange County, gave up two safeties on special teams and were penalized eight times in the game at Newport Harbor High. They looked at a lot of first-and-15s, and holding penalties pushed them back at other times.

"It's frustrating," Shipp said.

Fortunately, Fountain Valley has Kyle Middlebrooks and Dominic Ragland on its side.

Middlebrooks scored on runs of 67 and 38 yards. The senior running back who was third in Orange County rushing going into this week, finished with 139 yards, 29 fewer than his per-game average.

Senior quarterback Ragland scored on runs of 17 and 46 yards, totaled 108 yards rushing and threw for 102 yards.

Newport Harbor junior running back Cedric Whitaker rushed for 91 yards on 18 carries. He also scored on a 51-yard screen-pass play.

Newport Harbor two weeks ago, is 4-4 overall and 1-2 in league. The Sailors lost to top-ranked Edison last week, and two weeks ago beat Los Alamitos when that team was No. 4 in the county.

The two safeties scored on Fountain Valley were both punt plays, snaps on both winding up out of the back of the end zone.

Fountain Valley also got two points on a safety, when Newport Harbor recovered its own fumble in the end zone.

Middlebrooks was happy to get the victory, but disappointed by the inconsistency of his team's play.

"You can't make mistakes in this league," said Middlebrooks, who has scholarship offers from several colleges, including Washington and Washington State. "If you make mistakes, you'll lose."

Shipp credited Newport Harbor's effort.

"And our guys perservered," he said. "I was happy with the way we hung in there."

Newport Harbor plays Marina next Friday at Westminster High.