Vikings lose Mietkiewicz

The Marina High football team received bad news Monday when star

fullback and the team’s leading rusher, Ray Mietkiewicz, returned to

classes in an arm cast.

Mietkiewicz suffered an injury to his right wrist during the third

quarter of play of last Thursday’s game with Newport Harbor, and X-rays

taken Sunday revealed a break in the bone.

Marina Coach Mark Rehling said Monday that he didn’t know the

extent of the injury, only that Mietkiewicz will not suit up for Friday’s

game at Upland.

‘Ray will be lost indefinitely,’ Rehling said. ‘He’ll definitely

be out for several weeks, and that’s a blow to this team.

‘The big task for our team now is to find out just what kind of

football team we are without Ray. That’s a challenge to our offense, and

the entire team in general. Naturally, the kids are really down about

what’s happened to Ray, and it’s up to us coaches to get the morale back

up.’

Marina, which comes into Friday’s road game with a 1-0-1 mark after battling Newport Harbor to a 21-21 tie, is looking to avenge last year’s

24-17 home loss to Upland.

‘We just have to attack this game a little differently now,’ Rehling

said. ‘We have to convince our kids that we have enough good running

backs to make up for the void left by Ray’s absence in the backfield.

We’ll have to think of an entire offensive game, not just what’s going on

at fullback. We’ll need a complete team effort in order to get past

Upland.’ In Marina’s first two games this season, Mietkiewicz rushed

for 169 yards and a pair of touchdowns in a 28-7 win at Corona del Mar,

and was held to 77 yards and a score in 19 carries in the tie with

Newport Harbor.