Sailors pull off upset

SHERMAN OAKS - Newport Harbor's Andrew McDonald  connected with JB Green for a 22-yard touchdown pass with 5:09 remaining to help Newport Harbor upset Notre Dame of Sherman Oaks, 7-3, in the opening round of the CIF Pac-5 Division playoffs Friday.

"It was a possession game and we had the ball there in the end," said McDonald, who finished 11 of 14 for 98 yards. "I gave [Green]a chance, and he made a good play."

Ben Frazier carried 17 times for 68 yards for Newport Harbor (8-3), which finished with only 197 yards of total offense. "The way things were transpiring, we were going to take care of the ball," Sailors coach Jeff Brinkley said. "When we got our opportunity, we were going to strike."

Dillian Freiberg had five punts downed inside the 20, which forced the Knights (8-3) to use a conservative game plan in the absence of quarterback Dayne Crist, who suffered a concussion last week and didn’t suit up.

"We thought he was going to play the whole week, but it was kind of decided at the last minute that he wouldn’t," Knights coach Kevin Rooney said.

Thomas Edwards started in place of Crist, completing 12 of 19 passes for 117 yards.

"It was our job to step up, which we didn’t do," said Thaddeus Brown, who rushed for 79 yards on 19 carries.

Contact the writer: preps@ocregister.com