PREP FOOTBALL ’94 / EMPIRE LEAGUE : Marino in Left Field Regarding Fall Game : Football: Kennedy senior wants a baseball career, but he’s also a fine running back.

Kennedy High’s Charlie Marino loves baseball. He plays it well, too.

A first-team, All-Garden Grove League left fielder, Marino batted .400 and hit seven home runs, placing him among last season’s county leaders. Kennedy was runner-up in league to La Quinta, eventual Southern Section Division III champion.

Marino also played well this summer with the Orange County Cardinals, who were 31-5 and advanced to the Connie Mack World Series. He’s hoping baseball is his ticket to college.

“For some reason I enjoy it more,” Marino said.

Though football is secondary, Marino, a 5-foot-10, 195-pound senior, happens to be a pretty good running back and one Kennedy coaches believe will figure prominently in their quest for the Empire League championship.

Last season, he was a major factor in the Fighting Irish’s Garden Grove League title and their run to the section Division VII semifinals.

Marino led Kennedy with 1,173 yards rushing in 186 carries (6.3 yards average), scored a school-record 23 touchdowns (22 on the ground), and had 21 catches for 462 yards. He also threw a touchdown pass.

His best game in the playoffs came in Kennedy’s 28-7 romp over Montclair Prep in the quarterfinals, where he scored three touchdowns and ran for 113 yards. Marino’s high was 141 yards in a victory over Cypress during the regular season.

Those numbers might not jump out and grab you, but Kennedy assistant coach David Tankowski said they’re a little deceiving, too. They would be greater if Marino hadn’t sat out the second half of several blowouts. The Fighting Irish outscored their opponents by an average of 17 points.

“He didn’t have any spectacular games, but he more than got the job done,” Tankowski said. “There were a lot of games when he’d have more than 100 yards at the half but wouldn’t play anymore. Charlie hasn’t got a lot of press like a lot of backs, but he can play with the best of them.”

Marino’s efforts landed him an All-Garden Grove League first-team selection but haven’t earned him the notoriety of many of the county’s top runners.

That could change this season, Kennedy Coach Mitch Olson said. Though Olson admitted the Garden Grove League didn’t offer the competitiveness from top to bottom that the Empire does, he doesn’t believe the change of leagues will slow Marino.

“He’s one of our main factors on offense,” Olson said. “He’s got good hands, he’s an excellent blocker with speed and good power. He’s just a great athlete. He’s the type of back that some coaches would use in a one-back set. He’s just that good.”

Olson will use two backs though. Marino and junior fullback Darin Martineau (6-1, 215), who rushed for 538 yards and seven touchdowns with a healthy average of 8.7 yards per carry, give Kennedy arguably the league’s best backfield. At the least, they’ll raise some eyebrows.

“When you’ve got a fullback and a tailback that can bench press more than 330, that’s pretty impressive,” Olson said. “They’re two great backs. We’re hoping for some good things from both of them.”

They are among 14 starters back from last year’s club that is expected to battle El Dorado for the league title.

Marino, who also carries a 3.5 grade-point average, becomes the focal point of Kennedy’s offense with the graduation of quarterback Chris Clark, who passed for more than 1,600 yards and was Garden Grove MVP.

“He’s like Tom Rathman,” Kennedy linebacker Randy Ellison said of Marino. “Charlie’s not as big as Rathman, but he’s fast and powerful. If all else fails, Charlie can just run someone over.”

Marino shrugs off the praise.

“I just run hard,” he said.