Vikings can’t hold lead

HUNTINGTON BEACH — It was a night of big plays for Marina Thursday.

Unfortunately, they all worked against the Vikings.

Westminster scored on a first-half kickoff return and a pair of second half interceptions to overcome a 14-point deficit and post a 35-28 nonleague victory in a matchup between neighboring rivals at Ocean View High.

It was a tale of two halves for Marina which fell to 0-2. The Vikings never trailed in the opening half and enjoyed a 21-7 lead at the intermission. But in the second half, a pair of miscues gave Westminster all the momentum the Lions would need as they went on to pick up their first win of the season.

“One of the things I told our guys was not to give up the big play,” Marina Coach Dan Petrone said. “But we gave up a few, and they cost us. You take away those two touchdowns on those interceptions and it’s a different ballgame.”

Marina scored on its opening possession when quarterback Zack Couey punched it into the end zone on a one-yard run. Chase Robinson’s conversion put the Vikings up, 7-0, with 4:29 left in the first quarter.

But the lead didn’t last long. Westminster’s Aaron Garbutt returned the ensuing kickoff 99 yards and Julio Dominguez provided the point after to tie the score.

The Vikings regained the lead with 4:50 left in the half. A 48-yard drive for the go-ahead score was set up by Sam Wilson’s fumble recovery. The drive culminated with Couey throwing a quick nine-yard strike to Drew Jordan and Robinson’s kick made it 14-7.

After its defense held Westminster to three-and-out on the Lions’ next series, Marina’s offense went 67 yards in eight plays to score again. The big play during the drive was a 30-yard pass play on third down from Couey to Jarrid Balis down to the Westminster two. Two plays later, Wilson, who rushed for 84 yards, took a pitch from Couey around right end for the score. Robinson’s conversion put Marina up 21-7 at the half.

“I told the guys that we had the first half going the way we wanted it to go and we got the second half off to a good start, too,” Petrone said. “But then, we made some big-time mistakes and those two picks for six really turned the game around.”

Balis put Marina in scoring position when he returned the second half kickoff 75 yards down to the Westminster 26. Two running plays gained nothing and on third down, a Couey pass was intercepted by MJ Morales who raced 75 yards down the Westminster sideline to the end zone. The momentum-turning play brought the Lions within 21-14 with 9:59 left in the third quarter.

Westminster fought back to tie the score at 21 on the final play of the quarter. A 62-yard drive that began with 1:43 left in the quarter, was highlighted by a 29-yard reception by Garbutt on a fourth-and-15 play from the Marina 31. Garbutt went high to make the grab over Marina’s Drew Jordan who stumbled on the play. Louie Villa scored on a two-yard run and Dominguez’s kick put the teams even heading into the final 12 minutes.

After forcing Marina to punt on the first offensive possession of the fourth quarter, the Lions needed to go just 45 yards to take their first lead. On third-and-five from the 40, Villa scampered for 28 yards down to the 12. On the next play, quarterback Kenny Chapple went into the end zone and Westminster had a 28-21 lead with 7:32 to play.

On Marina’s third play from scrimmage following Chapple’s run, Couey was picked off by Saul Santana who returned the interception 70 yards for a touchdown to make it 35-20.

With 2:35 left, Marina’s Ryan Lehane recovered a Villa fumble at the Westminster 21 and the Vikings turned the miscue into a score when Jordan stretched to haul in a six-yard scoring pass from Couey. Robinson’s kick made it 35-28 with 56 seconds left.

Marina attempted an onside kick but the Lions recovered at the Vikings 47 and ran out the clock.

Westminster was flagged for two unsportsmanlike conduct and two roughing-the-passer penalties in the second half.

“It’s tough to lose like this but I definitely thought we executed better overall than last week against Capo Valley,” Petrone said. “I saw some good things out there tonight.”

Couey threw for 205 yards with 112 of them going to Balis.

Marina next plays its home opener Sept. 25 by hosting Huntington Beach on Homecoming night at Orange Coast College.

MIKE SCIACCA covers sports. He can be reached at (714) 966-4611 or by e-mail at [email protected].