Published November 8, 2026
NEWPORT BEACH | AROUND NEWPORT | NOVEMBER 8, 2026
Newport Harbor’s flag football team took its shot at the top-ranked team around Saturday night. JSerra just wouldn’t miss.
The Lions beat the Sailors 40-14 in the CIF Southern Section Open Division final in Huntington Beach, capping another unbeaten season. It was Harbor’s second trip to a CIF final in three years.
Harbor hung around, too. Junior quarterback Scarlett Guyser hit Cora Jordan for a 14-yard touchdown early in the second quarter to make it 13-7. In the third, she found freshman Emma Yokoi from 12 yards out to pull within 20-14. Skylie Cid caught 10 passes. Then JSerra scored the last 20 points.
Coach Jason Guyser said his team played loose with nothing to lose; it just couldn’t slow down JSerra’s offense. The Sailors finish 23-5 after edging Woodbridge 26-21 in the semifinals. Not a bad year for a sport most of us couldn’t have explained to you three years ago.
Football: seven straight, and counting
On the regular gridiron, Newport Harbor beat El Modena 28-7 Friday night in the first round of the Division 3 playoffs. That’s seven wins in a row for the Epsilon League champs, now 9-2.
The Sailors’ offense runs through senior quarterback Jordan Spigarelli, who has 32 touchdown passes this season, according to MaxPreps. Ryan Palmer leads the team with 14 touchdowns and Shane McKibbin has 11. Junior Pepe Tena leads the ground game at about 80 yards a game. On defense, Ryder Godbold has 5 sacks and 34 quarterback hurries, which sounds exhausting for everybody involved.
Next up: Villa Park at Newport Harbor, Friday, Nov. 13, at 7 p.m.
CdM: a three-point goodbye
Corona del Mar’s season ended Friday with a 20-17 home loss to Chaminade in the first round of Division 2. The Sea Kings, who beat Harbor 16-6 back in September, finish 8-3. Troy Merriman led the defense with 8 sacks, sophomore Nate Rothman picked off 5 passes, and Nolan Scott found the end zone 9 times.
One Newport team is still playing. Friday night, Irvine Avenue. Bring your loudest voice.
Sources
- MaxPreps: JSerra caps unbeaten season with 40-14 win over Newport Harbor
- OC Sports Zone: JSerra defeats Newport Harbor for CIF championship
- Daily Pilot: Newport Harbor flag football returns to CIF final
- OC Sports Zone: Friday night CIF football playoff scores
- SI: CIF Southern Section first-round playoff scores
- MaxPreps: Newport Harbor football schedule
- MaxPreps: Newport Harbor football stats
- MaxPreps: Corona del Mar football stats
Help us out, Newport.
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