Esperanza Win Puts Marina League Title Hopes on Hold

If one thing will soothe the disappointment for Marina High football players, coaches and fans, it’s that the Vikings are still in the Sunset League title race.

Still, the Vikings hung their heads after a 24-14 loss to Esperanza Thursday night at Valencia High.

A victory would have clinched their first league title since 1986, but the Vikings let it slip away.

The Vikings fumbled seven times and lost five of them.

Opportunistic Esperanza, fighting just to stay in the playoff hunt, knew what to do with the chances. The Aztecs, leading 10-7 after three quarters, scored 14 fourth-quarter points off Marina fumbles.

“It’s disappointing because I felt like we had a shot,” Marina Coach Mark Rehling said. “But you can’t fumble when you are playing for the championship.”

Marina (5-3-1, 3-1 in league play) must defeat Los Alamitos next week in order to win at least a share of the league title.

Esperanza (5-4, 2-2), facing almost certain elimination from the playoffs for the first time since 1988 with a loss, turned in what Coach Gary Meek termed a “masterful” second-half.

“There was a lot of incentive,” Meek said. “We wanted them to know that the league championship is not going to go through us. They may get it somewhere else, just not here.”

The Aztecs had only 76 yards in offense at halftime, and clung to a 3-0 lead. But something clicked with running back Tim Sonuyi.

Sonuyi, who finished with 126 yards and a touchdown, had 78 of those yards after halftime.

He carried on seven consecutive plays after a Marina fumble on the second play of the fourth quarter set up the Aztecs on the Marina 35-yard line. He finished the drive with a one-handed reach across the end line as he fell for a six-yard touchdown and a 17-7 Esperanza lead.

Marina fumbled on the next play from scrimmage and Sonuyi went 17 yards to set up a 10-yard touchdown pass from Greg Farrell to Ryan Murray and a 24-7 lead.

“I found out that [a playoff berth] was on the line and I told myself to go out there with some fire,” said Sonuyi.

“Holes or no holes, I had to run hard. They thought they were going to come into our house and win the championship, but I didn’t want to let that happen.”

The Esperanza victory overshadowed another stellar performance by Marina’s Ray Mietkiewicz, who had 222 yards and a touchdown in 23 carries.

“Our defense played great and kept [Mietkiewicz] off the field,” Meek said. “If he gets 40 carries like he usually does, he’s going to turn some into touchdowns.”