Presenting the Independent’s 99 Dream Team

To say that the 1999 high school football season was full of

surprises would be an understatement.

How could you deem it anything but that after the unfolding of an 11-game

season that saw records fall, teams ascend to new heights, players rise

and, on an incredibly sad note, one player die? Life is a game, and these

young men are beginning to see that it amounts to more than what

transpires on the playing field.

But on the gridiron, Marina High fullback Ray Mietkiewicz soared - no,

make that rambled, his was into the Marina football annals as a multi

record setter.

The Sunset League should have been forewarned four years ago when

Mietkiewicz, a then-freshman, rushed for nearly 1,200 yards and 10 yards

per carry as the Vikings went 10-0 en route to a league championship.

That performance truly was a precursor to a high school career that came

full circle in ‘99,as the senior established a staggering 11 school

records in a 28-game varsity stint: most career yardage (4,180), most

yards in a single season (1,626), most yards in a single game (308), best

average per carry (7.9), total offensive yards, career (4,226), most

touchdowns in a career (42), most touchdowns in a season (21), most

touchdowns in a game (5), most points in a career (286), most points in a

season (128), and most points in a game (32).

The only record to elude the 6-foot-1, 235 senior was longest run from

scrimmage.

‘I was too slow for that one,’ joked Mietkiewicz, a Division I prospect

who played his final eight games in a wrist cast. ‘I’m satisfied with my

career at Marina, but I wanted to accomplish a lot more. I was

disappointed that we didn’t win the Sunset League this year - and we had

our chances, but we did reach one goal, and that was making the playoffs.

‘It’s been a fast four years, and I realized it when we got off the bus

after the Eisenhower game (Marina lost to the Eagles in a CIF Division I

first-round game) and turned in my uniform, that it was over. That was a

tough moment.’

Toughness is what Mietkiewicz is all about. His punishing rushing style,

enhanced by sheer determination, is what set him apart from the crowd.

‘Ray is definitely one of the most determined, committed athletes I’ve

ever been around,’ fifth-year Marina Coach Mark Rehling said of his

backfield star. ‘Excellence is something he wanted to achieve each time

he took the field. He really was a man among boys.’

Rehling, the Independent’s Coach of the Year, was blessed to have a

talented senior class. That leadership helped guide the Vikings to their

first playoff appearance in seven years, beat Edison and Fountain Valley

on consecutive Friday nights for the first time in eight years, and had

them on the cusp of their first league championship in 13 years.

‘To me, the measure of success is knowing that you could compete against

anybody and have a chance to win each game,’ he explained. ‘And, I really

felt that we had that this year. We had a great senior class - something

I saw in this group as sophomores, and these kids just had great

attitudes. They really gave the program a great boost heading into next

season.’

Below are the players selected to the 1999 Independent Prep Football

Dream Team: