Marina Stuns Newport Harbor

Marina running back Adam Hayward kissed two fingers and thrust them into the sky. First-year Viking Coach Mike Dodd rambled on about the meaning of it all.

Make no mistake, Marina’s 26-18 nonleague victory at No. 7 Newport Harbor on Thursday night was big for the Vikings. It made them 2-0 for the first time since 1994, when Marina won its first five games.

“It makes us feel great,” said Hayward, who partially blocked a field-goal try in the first half. “We had to come out and show everyone that we’re going to play this year.”

Said Dodd: “I’m tremendously pleased. I can’t tell you how I feel right now.”

He should feel relieved.

Newport Harbor (1-1) made a gallant comeback after Marina scored two fourth-quarter touchdowns to seemingly put the game out of reach.

The Sailors’ Chris Manderino, who was moved from quarterback to running back in the second half to jump-start a sluggish offense, scored on a five-yard run with 3 minutes 43 seconds remaining to pull Newport Harbor to within eight points. Manderino led the Sailors in rushing with 76 yards in 20 carries.

But when a fourth-down pass by Morgan Craig, Manderino’s replacement at quarterback, fell incomplete with 1:10 left, the game was over.

“You think you have the game won and they just kept coming back,” Dodd said. “It’s a credit to Newport Harbor.”

Marina scored its fourth-quarter touchdowns on a 76-yard keeper by quarterback Beau Brown and a nine-yard run by Turrill Engleman. On his scoring run, Brown eluded two defenders just past the line of scrimmage, then escaped a shoestring tackle with a high step.

“I just cut it up and had one guy to beat--the safety--and I beat him,” said Brown, who led Marina with 95 yards rushing.

Marina and Newport Harbor stepped it up on offense in the second half after sputtering early on. The Vikings finished the first half with 26 yards of offense, the Sailors 17.

“Our offense was out of sync in the first half,” Brown said. “I just got my mind set that we would score and we did--two in a row.”

Newport Harbor took over inside the Marina 24-yard line on three occasions in the first half because of Marina turnovers and miscues but only came away with Duke Burchell’s 27-yard field goal.

Aaron Peck returned an interception 19 yards for a touchdown and Sean Sanchez kicked one of his two field goals to give Marina a 10-0 lead in the second quarter.