High School Football: Marina struggles against Los Al
WESTMINSTER — Los Alamitos High’s 47-0 victory over Marina in their Sunset League opener on Friday at Westminster High School wasn’t pretty.
But it wasn’t only the one-sided score that made this contest difficult to watch at times.
It was penalty-ridden play of the Griffins (4-2, 1-0) in the first half.
The Griffins racked up six penalties for 66 yards in the first quarter alone and were penalized eight times for 81 yards in a first half that took an hour and 20 minutes to play.
Miscues by the Griffins gave Marina (3-3,0-1) some opportunities, but the Vikings couldn’t capitalize.
Los Alamitos was forced to punt from their own 25-yard line on the game’s opening possession.
A poor snap caused punter Eli Kasiano to hurry his punt, which went for minus-two yards.
That gave Marina possession on the Griffins’ 23, but the best the Vikings could do with the field position was a 39-yard field goal attempt by Rand Keidel that had the distance but sailed wide to the left.
Los Alamitos took over and put together a seven-play, 80-yard drive, capped by a 40-yard touchdown pass from Hayden Smith to Mike Magana.
Later in the first quarter, Marina’s Levi McCallion recovered a Los Alamitos fumble on Griffins’ 36.
But Marina was minus-17 yards on the ensuing drive.
Marina was trailing 21-0 early in the second quarter and was punting from their own 28.
The punt hit a Los Alamitos player downfield and the ball was recovered by Marina on the Griffins’ 48.
But once again, Marina couldn’t put together a drive.
Los Alamitos led 40-0 at the half, invoking the CIF rule of a running clock for the rest of the game.
The loss extended the Vikings’ losing streak in the Sunset League to 57 games.
“For us, it’s a matter of depth,” said Marina Coach Jeff Turley, referring to his small, injury plagued roster.
Despite the penalties and sloppy play at times, the Griffins still showed that they are one of the county’s better teams, especially on defense.
Marina was held to minus-55 yards rushing, mostly because quarterback Ian Green was sacked 10 times by Los Alamitos’ blitzing defense.
Marina’s playmaking receiver Noah Holmes, who came into the contest with 25 receptions for 577 yards and 10 touchdowns through five games, didn’t get his first reception until the third quarter and finished with four catches for 30 yards.
Green completed 11 passes for 87 yards, but threw two interceptions, one that was returned for a 67-yard touchdown by Drew Platt.
Despite their futility in league play in recent years the Vikings already have as many wins this season than the past three years combined.
With the exception of Edison, who the Vikings play in two weeks, Turley feels his team matches up well with league opponents Huntington Beach, Fountain Valley and Newport Harbor.
If Marina can win two league games, they can make the playoffs, the coach said.
“It’s a matter of them realizing that they can hang with these teams and they can win these games,” Turley said. “We keep fighting. I think that we are going to turn it around and surprise some people.”
Los Alamitos takes on defending league champion Edison next week in a matchup that will likely decide the league championships.
Sunset League
Los Alamitos 47, Marina 0
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Los Alamitos 21 – 13 – 14 – 0 – 47
Marina 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 – 0
FIRST QUARTER
Los Al – Magana 40 pass from Smith, (Platt run), 7:20.
Los Al – Platt 67 interception return, (Pass failed), 1:48.
Los Al – Norman 29 run, (Ruiz kick), 1:34.
SECOND QUARTER
Los Al – Smith 38 run, (Ruiz kick), 8:14.
Los Al – Huey 25 pass from Smith, (Kick blocked), 5:07.
Los Al – Norman 18 run, (Kick blocked), 2:36.
THIRD QUARTER
Los Al – Davis 18 run, (Ruiz kick), 9:47.
INDIVIDUAL RUSHING
Los Al – Norman 11-82, 2 TDs.
Mar – Riederich 11-20.
INDIVIDUAL PASSING
Los Al – Smith 7-11-0-144, 2 TDs.
Mar – Green 11-25-2-87.
INDIVIDUAL RECIEIVING
Los Al – Magana 2-48, TD.
Mar – Holmes 4-30.