Corona del Mar Takes What Marina Gives It

They escaped the second half with only one turnover, one mishandled punt and a collective look of relief. What’s more, something resembling a game plan also seemed to take form in the closing moments.

And, yes, this could be considered substantial progress for Marina’s football players. They never looked better Friday night than in the second half of a nonleague game against Corona del Mar, which explains much of what happened to Marina in a 42-0 loss at Orange Coast College.

The Vikings (0-1) committed six turnovers in eight first-half possessions. Junior running back Tom O’Meara did the rest for the Sea Kings (1-0), rushing for 109 yards and five touchdowns in 12 carries--all in the first half.

Six rushing touchdowns in one game is a county record. O’Meara is the third player to rush for five touchdowns in one game.

The combination of his team’s careless play and O’Meara ruined the debut of Marina Coach Mark Rehling. His counterpart, understandably, felt better.

“We knew this kid could play,” Sea King Coach Mark Schuster said of O’Meara. “We just told him to run hard and that’s what he did. The offensive line did a great job too, but it’s hard to tackle moving tree trunks.”

The highlight of the game was O’Meara’s 17-yard touchdown run with 56 seconds left in the first half. O’Meara, who Schuster said can squat 520 pounds, slammed into the right side of the Vikings’ defense and appeared to be stopped for a short gain.

However, after a few seconds and lots of pushing, O’Meara emerged from the pile and wrestled his way the final few yards. He carried several defenders with him, much to his coach’s delight.

“That was just incredible,” Schuster said. “I mean, we didn’t expect him to drag seven guys to the end zone.”

Senior quarterback Josh Walz was effective, completing five of 13 passes for 113 yards. He also intercepted a pass while playing cornerback, one of three passes by Marina junior quarterback Chason Brown that were intercepted.

“We worked pretty hard on the off-season, so we’re feeling great about this,” Walz said. “The line played great and Tom ran great. But, really, I’m surprised. You have to be surprised any time you beat a team by 42 points.”

Senior tailback Mike Williams rushed for 66 yards in 17 carries for Marina.