Maroney Lights Up North With Interception Return

Chris Maroney wants to become a firefighter someday. But Friday night at Orange Coast College’s LeBard Stadium, he was sending off sparks instead of snuffing them.

Maroney, a 6-foot-1, 180-pound linebacker from Pacifica High, lifted the North team to a 16-13 victory over the South by returning an intercepted pass 79 yards for a touchdown with 3 minutes 59 seconds remaining in the 32nd Orange County all-star football game.

The play gave the North a 16-7 lead and sent the team to its first victory in the past five years.

Maroney, who will play at Orange Coast College next season, made what proved to be the biggest play of the night on a pass on the left flat from South quarterback Josh Gingrich of Edison that was intended for wide receiver Dave Poltl of Capistrano Valley.

The South was threatening on first and 10 at the North’s 28-yard line.

“I was supposed to run out to the flat,” said Maroney, who was voted defensive player of the game. “I was covering (Poltl) and just stepped up when I saw the quarterback throw the ball.”

Maroney said he almost didn’t go the distance because his calves were cramping during his run along the right sideline. But he wasn’t about to stop.

“I said, ‘No way, not in this game.”’

Poltl actually got a hand on Maroney’s jersey while chasing the linebacker, but Maroney shook him off.

“I felt him grab my shirt,” Maroney said. “I saw a big lineman coming too.”

Maroney said the pregame newspaper stories and the talk about the alleged superiority of the South team troubled him, but he used it as a motivational tool.

“That bothered me bad,” said Maroney, who played outside linebacker for the North instead of his usual inside linebacker position. “When I heard that they said it would be no competition, that upset me.”

He said that Rob Johnson’s bruised left shoulder, which forced the El Toro quarterback to leave the game early in the first quarter, helped the North’s chances considerably.

“We were preparing for him,” Maroney said. “I think that his being out of the game helped us a lot . . . But I knew our defense was good. It came through.”

And so did Maroney.