PREP FOOTBALL : Mater Dei Holds Off Huntington Beach

Mater Dei High School and Huntington Beach proved Thursday night that the trend toward the air attack in Orange County high school football these days is not just a passing fancy.

The teams combined for 78 passing attempts, netting 479 yards and 4 touchdowns.

When it was over, Mater Dei won, 29-21, in front of 1,500 fans at Santa Ana Stadium. However, thanks to Huntington Beach’s passing attack, the Oilers managed to stay in the game until the end.

Down 29-7 early in the fourth quarter, the Oilers got two touchdown passes from quarterback Joe Napoli, the second of which cut the lead to eight points with 37 seconds to play. The Oilers came close to recovering the ensuing onside kick, but the Monarchs managed to hang onto the ball and subsequently the nonleague victory.

Until then, the game was all Mater Dei, particularly sophomore quarterback Todd Marinovich, who completed 25 of 44 passes for 257 yards and 2 touchdowns.

Marinovich helped stake the Monarchs to a 9-0 lead midway through the second quarter by driving his team 43 yards in 6 plays, with the touchdown coming on an 8-yard pass to Jim O’Brien on a play that saw a defender tip the ball to O’Brien in the end zone for the score.

It was that kind of evening for the Oilers--one in which receivers dropped numerous passes and running backs fumbled handoffs.

The play that best typified both the game’s ragged play and Huntington Beach’s frustration came with the Oilers trailing the Monarchs, 12-0, late in the second period. Huntington Beach had the ball on its 20-yard line.

Oiler quarterback Napoli caught Mater Dei in a safety blitz and successfully lofted a flair pass in the right flat to Dean Cunningham, who was coming out of the backfield.

Cunningham made a brilliant catch and run down to Mater Dei’s 8, but he fumbled the ball when he was tackled, and, after a scramble, the Monarchs recovered it at the 3-yard line.

The net gain was 77 yards, but the Oilers didn’t have possession of the ball when the play was over.

The Oilers played well in spurts, but not well enough to win.