Marina cruises past Westminster

It may be the fourth week of prep football action, but Friday night

proved to be the start of a new season for Marina High’s Ray Mietkiewicz.

Having suffered a break to his left wrist in a Sept. 16 tie with

Newport Harbor, Mietkiewicz returned to action for the first time in 15

days Friday against Westminster. The 6-foot-1, 235 senior fullback

announced his return in a big way as he rushed for four touchdowns -

three of which came in the first half - and 249 yards on just 15 carries

as the host Vikings cruised to a 42-26 nonleague victory over the

Westminster Lions at Bill Boswell Field.

Mietkiewicz more than stated his case by intermission. He had

rushed for 151 yards on 11 attempts, and his third touchdown run of the

half seemed to punctuate his return.

Mietkiewicz was challenged just once on the run but broke free of

Phillip Jenkins’ would-be ankle tackle at the Westminster 40-yard line,

then galloped to the end zone to complete a 62-yard touchdown play.

As he bolted through the back of the end zone at the conclusion of

the run, Mietkiewicz leapt into the air and thrust his fist skyward, as

if to signal, ‘I’m back!’

The run gave Marina a commanding 35-6 edge at the break.

‘I was just really excited at that point,’ he said. ‘When I broke

this thing (wrist), I really didn’t know if I’d play football again. It’s

just great to be able to come out and play. I thought I did all right

tonight.’

Westminster (1-3) probably holds a higher regard for Mietkiewicz.

Despite having his wrist heavily bandaged, Mietkiewicz wasn’t

hampered by the injury. He also scored on runs covering 4 and 8 yards in

a 3:30 span between the end of the first quarter and the start of the

second quarter.

Mietkiewicz sat out the game’s final 10 minutes.

‘Right now, it doesn’t even feel like I played a football game,’

Mietkiewicz said after the game. ‘The only trouble I had with my wrist

was that it was tough to shift the ball from arm to arm. Other than that,

I felt great.’

Marina, which bounced back from its first loss of the season to

improve to 2-1-1, dominated the first half of play.

The Vikings never trailed, and took a 7-0 after their first

possession on quarterback Beau Brown’s 14-yard option keeper. Later in

the first period, Brown hooked up with wide receiver/defensive back Aaron

Williams on a 48-yard scoring play, with a wide open Williams making the

catch at the Westminster 21-yard line and strolling uncontested to the

end zone.

In the first 12 minutes of the game, Marina has rushed for 152

yards and finished with 210 yards of total offense. On the other side of

the ball, the Viking defense was tough to penetrate. Westminster gained

just 30 total yards on 11 plays, and 21 of those came on Christian

Chamberlain’s 21-yard run on the first play from scrimmage.

‘I thought we played with great intensity on both sides of the

ball in that first half,’ Marina Coach Mark Rehling said. ‘We had some

really great moments tonight, and it’s just wonderful to have Ray

(Mietkiewicz) back in the line-up.’

Brown also got off to a quick start before suffering two lost

fumbles in the second half. The junior quarterback rushed for 98 yards on

11 carries, and hit his first two passes (58 yards) before giving up an

interception on his final attempt.

Overall, Marina rushed for 422 yards.

Mietkiewicz also closed the door on the Lions late in the third

quarter.

Less than a minute after Cande Maldonado scored on a 12-yard run,

Mietkiewicz scored on an n 84-yard burst up the middle. He broke free at

the line of scrimmage, and received a key block downfield when Jason

Stone took out Lions defensive back Phillip Jenkins at the Westminster

30-yard line, which would spring Mietkiewicz clear to the end zone.

At that point, Marina led, 42-14, with 1:58 to play in the

quarter.

Mietkiewicz wasn’t the only player to have a big night as Jenkins,

Westminster’s top receiver/defensive back, finished with 125 yards on

nine receptions, including a pair of touchdown passes (9 and 7 yards)

from quarterback Kelly Coburn.

Jenkins also had an interception on defense, and also kicked a

pair of extra points.

After a miserable first half, Coburn came on to finish 18 of 35

for 189 yards.

Marina ends its preseason schedule next Friday at Mission Viejo.