Marina football rides tough defense to win over Fountain Valley
Marina didn’t have an offensive snap until more than 10 minutes had elapsed on the game clock on Friday night, and even then, it walked away with the lead.
It’s the way things have gone for the Vikings, who didn’t win consecutive games until closing out the regular season with a four-game winning streak to claim the Big 4 League title last year.
The Vikings have stifled opponents defensively en route to winning their first three games, a 21-6 victory over former Sunset League foe Fountain Valley at Boswell Field the latest.
Marina (3-0) has surrendered 6.3 points per game, which includes wins over Westminster (2-1) and Long Beach Wilson (2-1).
Senior Shane Cassidy jumped a route on the opening drive, grabbing a pass intended for Charles Grover and sprinting up the left sideline for a 67-yard interception return touchdown.
“All practice, we’ve been going over the pass plays that they were going to run,” Cassidy said. “A lot of hitches. The quarterback looked at him the whole time, so I broke on it, and it just happened to be the right moment.”
Fountain Valley (1-2) had moved the ball 43 yards on 10 plays leading up to that point, and the Barons had further misfortune when Grover had an 89-yard return on the ensuing kickoff called back.
The Vikings’ pass rush produced seven sacks of Barons senior quarterback Lucas Alexander. Senior Troy Atkins and junior Brayden O’Rourke, both linebackers, recorded back-to-back sacks on the drive that followed, ending a string of 14 consecutive plays run by the Barons’ offense to begin the contest.
Marina held onto the ball for 14 plays on its first possession, methodically moving the ball to the Fountain Valley 5-yard line. Senior quarterback Garrett Hunnicutt targeted Cassidy on the third-and-goal play, and Grover came off his man with two routes intersecting to swat the ball away. Aiden Trang, who tailed Cassidy for much of the game, was also in coverage.
“He didn’t step off the field,” Fountain Valley coach David Gutierrez said of Grover. “He played the entire time, offense and defense. He’s a tough kid, and he works his butt off. He kept us in the game.”
Junior defensive lineman Munir Beshir then appeared to get a glove on the short field-goal attempt by senior Caiden Scolfield, sending it wide left.
It wound up being the only full drive of the half for Marina, which got the ball back with just 30 seconds remaining after senior Nolan Olivares — limited by a lower-body injury — came up just 2 yards short of a first down on a 15-yard dash to the sideline on a fake punt.
Coming out of the break, Marina would strike before entering the red zone. Hunnicutt found Cassidy behind the defense for a 22-yard touchdown, doubling the Vikings’ lead.
Fountain Valley answered with another sustained drive, finding rhythm with the running game. Juniors Cameron Farr and Sam Garza combined for 33 yards on five consecutive carries. When the Barons finally put the ball back in the air, it resulted in a 19-yard touchdown pass from Alexander to Grover in the left corner of the end zone.
The Vikings defense greatly impacted the outcome from there, holding Alexander to two completions on seven attempts for 13 yards and sacking him four more times the rest of the way. Senior Duk Caldwell ended the Barons’ next drive with a sack on a fourth-and-4, leaving Marina’s offense a short field, which it converted.
Six plays after taking over at the 24-yard line, Marina had chewed another three minutes off the clock when senior Gabe Carles made good on a goal-line run with 4:54 to go.
“Maybe we’re not saying things out loud, but mentally, we’re all thinking the same thing, ‘Man, this is what teamwork is all about,’” said Caldwell, who matched O’Rourke with two sacks. “If we all do our part, good teamwork, then we’re going to make each other all look good.”
Junior Brandon Atchison also had one full sack, with senior Angel Garcia and sophomore Trevor Parks each picking up half a sack.
Marina beat Fountain Valley in another low-scoring affair last season. Bellcow running back Anthony Fabian provided the walk-off touchdown in overtime in that one.
Cassidy, who has accounted for five touchdowns (four receiving) in three games, and the Vikings’ defense have been the standouts thus far.
“It’s always good to see our team fight hard,” Marina coach Charlie TeGantvoort said. “We fought hard from the start to the finish, and I’m just really proud of their effort. Our defense played lights out, our running backs just ran the ball hard. Great team win, great coaching staff, … just super proud of them all.”
Marina takes on Pacifica (1-2) in a nonleague game on Thursday, Sept. 12 at Westminster High.
Fountain Valley will face Tustin (3-0) on Friday, Sept. 13 at Ocean View High.
Marina 21, Fountain Valley 6
Nonleague
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Marina 7 - 0 - 7 - 7 — 21
Fountain Valley 0 - 0 - 6 - 0 — 6
FIRST QUARTER
M — Cassidy 67 interception return (Scolfield kick), 4:58.
SECOND QUARTER
None.
THIRD QUARTER
M — Cassidy 22 pass from Hunnicutt (Scolfield kick), 6:29.
FV — Grover 19 pass from Alexander (Garza run failed), 2:47.
FOURTH QUARTER
M — Carles 2 run (Scolfield kick), 4:54.
INDIVIDUAL RUSHING
M — Carles, 21-49, 1 TD.
FV — Farr, 12-39.
INDIVIDUAL PASSING
M — Hunnicutt, 12-15-0, 123, 1 TD.
FV — Alexander, 10-19-1, 72, 1 TD.
INDIVIDUAL RECEIVING
M — Cassidy, 3-44, 1 TD.
FV — Grover, 4-33, 1 TD.
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