Newport Harbor girls’ flag football, closing in on league title, stifles rival CdM 

The Newport Harbor High girls’ flag football team has had a target on its back for much of the sport’s inaugural CIF Southern Section season.  When junior quarterback Maia Helmar is on target, though, there’s not much that opposing defenses can do.  Orange County’s top-ranked team, the Sailors are also ranked No. 1 in the country by MaxPreps.com.

They certainly looked the part Wednesday night under the lights.

Helmar threw four touchdown passes as Newport Harbor routed rival Corona del Mar, 27-0, in a Sunset League game, moving closer to winning the first league in the sport’s history.

Newport Harbor, which has won 13 straight games, improved to 22-1 overall and 11-0 in league. The Sailors have a two-game lead in league over CdM (18-4, 9-2) with just three games remaining.

The Sailors beat the rival Sea Kings, ranked No. 4 in the country, for the third time this season. But this was the first time the margin was more than a touchdown; Newport Harbor escaped with a 12-6 overtime win in the teams’ first league meeting.

“There’s really no question now,” Newport Harbor coach Jason Guyser said of any Back Bay supremacy claims. “It wasn’t about trying to beat them by a lot of points, but it was just making it clear.”

Helmar found four different receivers — senior Kate Kubiak, junior Audrey Burns, junior Abigail George and sophomore Ella Woods — on her four touchdown passes. The Sailors scored on their first two drives and never looked back, taking a 14-0 halftime lead.

Kubiak, who is committed to the University of Oregon for women’s soccer, also made a few first-down catches to extend drives and several flag pulls from her outside linebacker position on defense.

Kubiak bobbled one third-down catch over the middle in the third quarter, but held on. A couple of plays later, Helmar found George on the left side for the Sailors’ third score.

“My mindset going into the game was that I just wanted to crush CdM,” Kubiak said. “I told Maia to hit me on anything she can, because I trust myself. I just wanted to score on them. Any time I got a deep ball, I was telling her beforehand, ‘Hey, look for me.’ I wanted to make the big play.”

Woods caught a 30-yard touchdown pass late in the game for the Sailors, then excitedly did the “stir the pot” celebration that some professional athletes have made famous.

Cooper Dick had a second-half interception on defense, and also deflected a pass that Helmar intercepted. Burns was also constantly flying to the ball for Newport Harbor.

“They just moved a lot faster,” CdM coach Yvonne Sturgeon said. “We missed some flags, and they didn’t. Bottom line, they were a better team tonight. I’m not going to mince words. They were more aggressive than we were, and we can’t play a team like that and not come out aggressive right out of the gate. We’re fully capable of doing that, but we didn’t show it tonight.”

Guyser also praised rusher Emma Chaix. The senior sacked athletic CdM junior quarterback Alexa Rokos on fourth down on the Sea Kings’ first drive of the game to help set the tone. In the rivals’ last meeting, Newport Harbor was unable to sack Rokos.

“Even when she didn’t get sacks, she at least forced her to throw before she was comfortable,” Guyser said. “I thought Emma did an amazing job. Rokos is an incredible athlete.”

Wednesday night’s result was the Sailors’ 15th shutout of the season, and the most impressive. Newport Harbor has outscored opponents 574-75 this season.

The game also was the Los Angeles Rams Game of the Week, and both teams were presented with checks for $1,000 following the final whistle.

Newport Harbor can clinch at least a share of the league title when it plays at Marina on Monday at 6:15 p.m. The Sailors then close out their season at home against Edison on Wednesday, and at Laguna Beach on Oct. 23.

The Vikings and Chargers are both worthy opponents, but Helmar expects the team to be ready.

“I’d say the grit that we have is by far better than other teams,” she said. “We want it more.”

Updated: October 29, 2022

NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. — On Wednesday, Oct. 26, Newport Harbor and Corona del Mar competed in flag football which, on Sept. 29, was established as a CIF Southern Section-approved sport. Once the state council gives the final approval in February, girls’ flag football will be officially added as a CIF sport for the 2023-24 school year.

Both teams honored their seniors following the game where Harbor beat Corona del Mar 18-6, completing the regular season undefeated and winning the Pacific League. 

At halftime, the game was tied with a score of 6-6, but Harbor came out strong in the second half and never looked back. Their relentless defense was no surprise, given that they allowed only 4.5 points per game and hadn’t given up more than six points in the regular season.

Harbor standout player Sophomore Maia Helmar caught two touchdown passes from senior quarterback Jianna Lopez and made two interceptions on defense. Senior Isa Whittaker also caught a touchdown pass. Senior Delaney Gahm started the Harbor program in 2021. She is co-captain this year, along with Maia Helmar. 

Corona del Mar is in its first year and finished the regular season 4-3-1. Sophomore quarterback Alexa Rokos and Junior receiver Alex Boserup are co-captains. The football club was started by CdM junior cornerback Peyton Vovan and senior Brea Sofferman. The only touchdown for Cdm came from Rokos to Boserup. 

Next up ... Season 2024