Green is gold for Huntington Beach football in win over rival Marina
Like most high school football teams, Huntington Beach was anxious to take the field again.
It had been 16 months since the Oilers had played a game, but that was not the only motivating factor for Friday night’s season opener.
Prior to last season, Huntington Beach had not lost to Marina in the “Oil vs. Water” rivalry game for over a decade.
Sammy Green produced 196 total yards and four touchdowns, as the host Oilers ran past the Vikings 42-6 in a nonleague game at Huntington Beach High School.
“I had to snatch it for them real quick,” Green said of winning the Victory Trophy back for the Oilers. “Me and my team, this is going to be a great team. We’re going to go 6-0 this year. I’m excited about it.”
Green, a senior transfer from JSerra who has committed to UNLV, rushed for 150 yards and scored all four of his touchdowns before halftime. He also turned a swing pass from AJ Perez into a 41-yard touchdown, weaving his way from left to right to the end zone in the second quarter.
Huntington Beach scored on its opening possession, a drive that ended with Perez finding Jonah Del Rosario for a 15-yard touchdown. Tyler Moses ran in the two-point conversion attempt.
The Vikings came up with defensive stops on the Oilers’ next two drives, which included an interception by Wyatt McClour, but Huntington Beach would score touchdowns on its last four possessions of the half, all of them scored by Green.
“He’s fun to watch,” Joey Gentilella said of Green. “He’s a great teammate, and he always wants to just run up the score so that everybody gets to play and stuff. He’s one of the most selfless players I’ve ever played with.”
Gentilella had a one-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter. It came after he completed a 15-yard pass over the middle to Braden Bailey to get down to the goal line.
Huntington Beach led 36-6 at halftime. Coming out for the second half, there was a moment of levity, as the teams had lined up for the kickoff before the officials had returned to the field.
The Oilers had three sacks and two takeaways on defense. Eli Anderson had two sacks and blocked an extra-point try, and Joe Carroll had one sack.
“We had it locked down today,” Anderson said. “We had our plan.”
AJ Vandermade had an interception in the third quarter for Huntington Beach, earning him a meeting with the “Turnover Trashcan,” which is kept on the sideline to celebrate takeaways created by the Oilers defense. Five days removed from the NBA All-Star Game, Vandermade winded up for a windmill dunk attempt and missed.
“I guess it slipped out of my hand, but I got a turnover, so it don’t matter,” Vandermade said. “Next time, I’m going to hit it with a nice dunk, though.”
Brantt Riederich led the Vikings offensively, rushing 12 times for 67 yards, which included a 44-yard touchdown down the left sideline in the second quarter. He also had a sack on defense.
Gavin Dykema added 42 total yards for Marina, which won the CIF Southern Section Division 11 championship last season.
After Marina notched its first win in the “Oil vs. Water” series since Sept. 25, 2008, a year ago, Vikings coach Jeff Turley said one difference in the opener was conditioning. He said he felt there had not been enough practice time, especially when he counted 14 starters for his team on offense and defense combined.
“It was evident,” Turley said. “You saw the gas tank start going empty, and all of the sudden, where we were making tackles, we now were just grabbing. We just didn’t have the gas.”
Nonleague
Huntington Beach 42, Marina 6
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Marina 0 – 6 – 0 – 0 – 6
Huntington Beach 15 – 21 – 0 – 6 – 42
FIRST QUARTER
HB – Del Rosario 15 pass from Perez (Moses run), 8:27.
HB – Green 4 run (Othman kick), 0:19.
SECOND QUARTER
HB – Green 41 pass from Perez (Othman kick), 7:56.
HB – Green 12 run (Othman kick), 4:00.
M – Riederich 44 run (Brenton kick blocked), 2:36.
HB – Green 5 run (Othman kick), 0:29.
THIRD QUARTER
None
FOURTH QUARTER
HB – Gentilella 1 run (Othman kick failed), 11:07.
INDIVIDUAL RUSHING
M – Riederich, 12-67.
HB – Green, 19-155, 3 TDs.
INDIVIDUAL PASSING
M – Miller, 8-17-1, 36.
HB – Perez, 4-9-1, 106, 2 TDs.
INDIVIDUAL RECEIVING
M – Dykema, 2-17.
HB – Ray, 2-44.
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