season comes to end in tough loss
Coming off a 9-1 season and a Mountain Conference championship, the Harbor football team faced a major opponent in Fullerton College at Cal State Fullerton and stayed close before losing 49-19 Saturday afternoon.
Harbor (9-2) finished a very successful season which it entered the final regular season week as the only undefeated team in Southern California. The Seahawks hung tough agains the state's 2nd-ranked defense, scoring off a one-yard run by Jon White to even a 7-7 score after the Hornets returned the opening squib kickoff for a touchdown.
Harbor trailed by one after the 1st quarter, as Dominique Blackman found Dwayne Frampton in a corner of the end zone from eight yards out. Alex Merced's PAT attempt sailed left to put the score at 14-13.
Entering the 3rd quarter, Harbor had the ball and a lot of momentum, driving 61 yards and punching in a Donald Matthews one-yard touchdown run to pull within two after trailing 21-13 at halftime. Blackman's two-point pass attempt failed as the score reached 21-19.
But Harbor would struggle from there, as Blackman was picked off three times after entering the game having thrown six all season. Blackman was 27-of-46 for 285 yards and the touchdown pass, while Frampton had eight receptions for 84 yards and a score. Prentice Gill returned to full-time receiving and had six catches for 102 yards.
The Seahawks reversed a 3-7 season in 2008 with a dominant and exciting one in 2009, leading the state in offense the entire season, highlighted with two 70+ point games (at Long Beach City, at Compton), a stellar defense led by linebacker Adrian Ferns (74 tackles, 6.0 sacks this season) and a record-setting year by Blackman (school-record seven total touchdowns vs. Long Beach City College). Included in the success was Frampton becoming the first receiver in Southern California to break 1,000 yards, while Jon White led the state in all-purpose yards with 1,961, including a school-record 103-yard kickoff return for touchdown against Santa Ana.
Harbor gained several post-season honors, including head coach George Swade being named Mountain Conference Coach of the Year, Blackman being named Offensive Player of the Year and 11 players being named to all-conference teams.