Another Painful Loss for Marina, 27-21 : However, No More Viking Injuries as La Quinta Scores Victory

Chris Ramsey, the first-year Marina High School coach, brought his winless team--what was left of it--to Westminster Friday night for a nonleague game against La Quinta. Ten Viking players who would have started were on the sidelines comparing aches and pains.

La Quinta, meanwhile, appeared to be feeling no pain. Aztec quarterback Derek Debbs, injured last week in a loss to Western, returned to the lineup to complete 17 of 21 passes for 269 yards and 4 touchdowns to lead La Quinta to a 27-21 victory.

Wide receiver David Harriger caught touchdown passes of 38, 18 and 8 yards and finished with 6 receptions for 140 yards in helping La Quinta build a comfortable lead. The Aztecs took a 27-8 lead into the fourth quarter and held off a late Marina comeback to improve their record to 2-2. Marina fell to 0-4, but was consoled by the fact that there were no further injuries.

So decimated were the Vikings last week that they had a defensive end making the first appearance of his football career at free safety. Starting fullback Sean Magula suffered an ankle injury in the Vikings’ first game and hasn’t played since. Starting quarterback Rick Vanderriet was playing with a dislocated finger on his left hand, suffered in practice earlier this week. And for this, Ramsey left Georgia?

But the former Georgia Tech assistant wouldn’t seize the opportunity to blame the loss on injuries.

“We just didn’t play well, and the injuries are no excuse,” Ramsey said. “We made the score respectable in the second half, but the bottom line is that we just didn’t execute well.”

The Vikings were in trouble before within the first four minutes. Debbs took just two plays to score. A 28-yard completion to Mark Hopkins was followed by a 38-yard touchdown pass to Harriger. By halftime, Debbs had thrown for 226 yards and 3 touchdowns and La Quinta had built a 20-8 lead.

Vanderriet ignored the pain in his non-throwing hand to complete 16 sof 25 passes for 174 yards and a touchdown and rushed for a 13-yard score to help the Vikings keep it reasonably close. Like Debbs, Vanderriet had a favorite receiver. Senior Ben LeFrancois, used only as a kicker last season, had 10 receptions for 112 yards. Sophomore running back John Sims rushed for 131 yards in 25 carries.

La Quinta extended its lead to 27-8 midway through the third quarter on Debbs’ eight-yard scoring pass to Harriger. Sims’ one-yard touchdown plunge with 8:13 to play cut the gap to 27-14, and the Vikings pulled even closer with a 62-yard, 16-play touchdown drive. LeFrancois had receptions of 13 and 16 yards before scoring on an acrobatic catch from the four-yard line with 1:13 remaining.

Ramsey may not want to use injuries as an excuse for defeat, but he can’t help but look forward to having some of his players return.

“With the injuries, it’s not so much the loss of players but the fact that there are new people to prepare to play the positions,” he said. “It hurts our continuity.

“We’re not a good team right now. We’ve got a chance to be a good team if we eliminate our mistakes and become more consistent.”