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NEWPORT BEACH — Newport Harbor girls flag football coach Jason Guyser didn’t mention the frustrating playoff result from last season to his players before they faced Edison on Wednesday.
He didn’t need to.
The Sailors knew playing Edison represented an opportunity for payback and to open the Sunset League on a positive note.
Scarlett Guyser ensured Newport Harbor capitalized. The junior tossed threw touchdowns, rushed for another score and intercepted a pass in the end zone to lead Newport Harbor to a 25-6 victory at Newport Harbor High.
The Sailors (7-1, 1-0), ranked No. 2 in Orange County, beat No. 5 Edison (6-3, 1-1) for the second time this season. Last fall, Edison upset the Sailors 6-0 in the first round of the CIF-SS Division 1 playoffs.
“It’s definitely pressure to beat (Edison) again and I hope that we see them in CIF and we can take them down this time,” said Scarlett Guyser, the daughter of the coach. “It was frustrating last year. We beat them in league twice, and another time, and then we lost in CIF.”
“This a great start (to league),” she added.
Newport Harbor, the three-time defending Sunset League champion, flashed its speed and agility throughout the victory, but especially on its first two touchdowns.
Skylie Cid capped the Sailors’ second possession by evading a swarm of defenders on a short reception from Scarlett Guyser and racing 21 yards for a touchdown with 1:29 left in the first quarter. Cid, a junior, ran in the extra-point.
Late in the second period, freshman Emma Yokoi avoided a flag pull on short, fourth-and-1 reception and darted 21 yards for a touchdown to push Newport Harbor’s lead to 13-0.
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“Two explosive playmakers,” Jason Guyser said of Cid and Yokoi. “You need someone who is elusive, really agile and both of them are fast and they can cut.”
“We definitely practice that but some of that is just, to be totally honest, God-given,” the coach added.
Edison opened the second half with one of its best drives as quarterback Maddie Phung heavily targeted Addie Bond to advance to the Newport Harbor 5. But on fourth down, Scarlett Guyser made a leaping interception from her safety spot.
In the middle of the fourth, Scarlett Guyser showed her arm by throwing a 14-yard touchdown to junior Jocelyn DeTemple to make it 19-0.
Scarlett Guyser completed 13 of 19 passes for 149 yards and rushed for 29 yards.
Bond snapped the shutout with a 2-yard touchdown catch from Phung with 2:33 left but Newport Harbor remained proud of its defensive effort. Freshman Jordan Sanders recorded two sacks and Cid and Yokoi each added one. DeTemple also had an interception.
Newport Harbor’s unit didn’t need to hear about the ’25 playoffs to perform.
“When the players are motivated on their own, that’s what you want as a coach,” Jason Guyser said. “I’m thrilled.”
Edison’s three losses are against Newport Harbor (twice) and No. 1 JSerra. The Chargers’ six victories are all shutouts.
“The biggest thing that we need to focus on is the ability of the group to play together and to believe in themselves in these bigger games,” said Edison coach Frank Phung, the father of the quarterback. “It’s a young group. … It’s going to be a process.”
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