WESTMINSTER - Marina High battled back from...

WESTMINSTER - Marina High battled back from a seven-point halftime

deficit, then withstood one final assault in the waning seconds by the

Newport Harbor Sailors Thursday night to earn a 21-21 tie at Westminster

High’s Bill Boswell Field.

It was only fitting that the Vikings (1-0-1) and Sailors (1-0-)

should end their nonleague tussle in a deadlock, as both teams were

guilty of not only some big penalties, but big mistakes, as well.

‘It wasn’t pretty, but both teams fought hard,’ Marina Coach Mark

Rehling said.

It wasn’t pretty, indeed, not when the two teams combined for

nearly 200 yards in penalties.

Marina also fumbled the ball four times, losing it twice.

Newport gave up a safety, an interception, and had a punt blocked.

It was the third safety recorded by the Vikings in two games.

The Sailors, who bombed Orange, 55-6 in last week’s season opener,

looked primed for victory No. 2 when they took a 15-2 lead late in the

second quarter. But penalties, which plagued Newport the entire game,

began to pile up, and Marina took advantage of a few blocking breakdowns

by the Sailors to climb back into the ballgame.

After Billy Clayton hauled in back-up quarterback Chris

Manderino’s 21-yard touchdown pass to give Newport its 13-point cushion late in the first half, Marina responded with a crucial 74-yard, eight

play drive that culminated in Beau Brown’s three-yard touchdown run.

In kick formation on the point after, Brown, the holder, scooped

up the snap, but his attempt for a two-point run around right end was

stuffed by three Sailors at the five, leaving the Vikings down at the

half, 15-8.

By the intermission, Newport had been assessed 83 yards on 10

penalties, while Marina was flagged four times for 41 yards.

Junior defensive back Aaron Williams gave Marina the lift it

needed when he intercepted Manderino at the Marina 38-yard line on the

opening possession of the second half. Williams sped his was downfield

before being dragged down at the one and three plays later, fullback Ray

Mietkiewicz bulled his way into the end zone for the score. The point

after put the Vikings even at 15-15 with 8:50 left in the third quarter.

The Viking defense struck again on Newport’s ensuing possession,

which saw the Sailors move from their own 17-yard line down to the Marina

38. Newport had appeared to be moving in for the go-ahead score when

Manderino hit Nick Langsdorf with a 25-yard pass down to the 13, but the

Sailors were hit with a personal foul penalty.

The call put the Sailors back at their own 48, but running back

Andre Stewart gained 18 of those yards back with a run to the Marina 34.

But Newport was guilty of an offsides penalty on second down, and then

Adam Hayward sacked Manderino for a 13-yard loss. An incomplete pass

later, Newport was forced to punt.

But Clayton, who also handled punting chores for the Sailors,

never got his kick off under a heavy rush. Marina defensive end Joe

Wilson broke through untouched to block Clayton’s attempt, and the

Vikings, after both Wilson and Ken Weber both failed to scoop up the

loose ball, took over at the Newport six-yard line on Inoke Tukia’s

recovery of the loose ball.

With its back to goal line, the Newport defense stiffened, but on

fourth-and-two, Viking quarterback Beau Brown scampered around left end

on an option keeper to knot the score. The point after was wide right,

however, leaving Marina with a six-point advantage, 21-15, with 2:42 to play in the third quarter.

But Newport came right back. A seven-play drive which covered 61

yards ended on Stewart’s 15-yard touchdown run, but Chris Bargas’ point

after attempt went wide left, and the teams again were tangled up at

21-21.

The Vikings came right back and mounted a drive that reached the

Newport 13-yard line, but penalties took them out of field position.

After holding the Sailors in three plays, Marina got the ball back at the

Newport 49 with 5:11 to go, and a 25-yard pass from Brown to Dan D’Amato

put the Vikings down at the 25. On first down from there, however,

Mietkiewicz fumbled, and the Sailors’ Alan Saenz recovered at the 20 with

3:37 left.

Marina had one final possession, but couldn’t move the ball, and

Newport took over at midfield with 45 seconds left. Manderino hit Justin

Jacobs with a 14-yard pass to the 36 on second down (it was Manderino’s

only completion in 10 second-half attempts). But the Sailors could get no

closer, and a holding penalty with 15 seconds left put the ball back near

midfield.

Manderino’s desperation pass to Mitch Gray fell incomplete inside

the Marina 10-yard line on the game’s final play.