Mike Sciacca, IndependentMark Rehling’s loss became Gary...

Mike Sciacca, Independent

Mark Rehling’s loss became Gary Nord’s gain last week, but in both

instances, both head coaches were extremely happy with the transaction.

It was on Feb. 2 that Marina fullback Ray Mietkiewicz, the Player of the

Year in Sunset League football during the 1999 season, signed with the

University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP). Rehling, who coached Mietkiewicz

at Marina the past three years, lauded his prize offensive player’s

decision. Nord, the head coach at UTEP, was equally satisfied in landing

the 6-foot, 235 senior, who set 11 school records during his 28-game

varsity career at Marina.

Mietkiewicz was one of three Californians among UTEP’s recruiting class

of 2000, which featured 21 players overall.

Joe Young, a running back/linebacker from Santa Monica, and Chris Lewis,

a wide receiver out of Ganesha, are the other two.

“We’re very excited about this class,” Nord said. “This is a group of

guys with outstanding character and talent. We concentrated on size and

speed with this class, and we feel we’ve addressed both areas. We think

we have some skill players who have the capability to be game breakers.”

Mietkiewicz certainly has the potential to be included among that group.

During the ’99 season, he established new Marina records for 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 single season (21), most touchdowns

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

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

“I think Ray has great potential and really can make an impact at UTEP,”

Rehling said. “Their coaching staff feels that his talents fit nicely

with their offensive scheme, and Ray like the fact that he was told he

could have an immediate impact.”