On the defense

Marina High’s Mark Spoolstra turned in his best performance of the

season last Friday against city rival Huntington Beach High, and part

of that effort included being in one key play that helped Marina

preserve its first Sunset League victory.

Spoolstra, a 6-foot-1, 220-pound linebacker, teamed with fellow

linebacker Danny Falkenstein to stop Huntington Beach star running

back Patrick Harrigan on a fourth-and-two play in the waning moments

to allow the Vikings to escape with a 14-13 road triumph on a rainy

night at Sheue Field.

The play typified Spoolstra’s presence in the game and capped a

performance that saw the senior finish with a career-best 16 tackles.

His efforts, which also included one caused fumble, earned

Spoolstra the Independent’s Player of the Week honor.

“He was definitely our defensive player of the game,” Marina coach

Mike Dodd said. “Mark gave a tremendous effort and played a heck of a

game.”

Spoolstra’s defensive stops helped Marina improve to 3-4 overall

and even its Sunset League record at 1-1.