Marina football outlasts Laguna Beach in high-scoring affair
As the adage goes, stranger things have happened. What transpired at Boswell Field on the campus of Westminster High School on Thursday night put that saying to the test.
What looked to be a bonafide blowout in the first half in a football game between host Marina High School and Laguna Beach turned into a shootout after the break.
Brantt Riederich and Gavin Dykema both ran for more than 100 yards and scored two touchdowns for Marina, as the Vikings held on to win 59-40 in the nonleague game.
“I was practicing hard at running back, and we both push each other, and that’s why I think we have a really nice running game this year,” Dykema said, noting that he has regularly served as a receiver for the Vikings on offense.
Marina held a 33-0 halftime lead after scoring touchdowns on four consecutive offensive plays as part of a five-touchdown second quarter.
That stretch began with a fourth-down conversion that went for an 18-yard touchdown from Jack Miller to Wyatt McClour, who compiled four catches for 106 yards and three touchdowns.
Following an interception by Gavin Del Toro, Miller connected with Dane Brenton over the middle for a 21-yard touchdown. Riederich and Dykema would score on runs of seven and 22 yards, respectively, to cap the run of 33 unanswered points.
Marina (2-1) has scored 93 points over its last two games after being held to six points in a season-opening loss to crosstown rival Huntington Beach.
“I think that kind of lit a fire under us,” Riederich said. “I mean, Huntington, going from last year, it wasn’t by any means a blowout last year, but this year is just a game-changer. First game, I think it was a rough first game for all of us.”
After a flurry of scoring plays for the Vikings in the second quarter, Laguna Beach (1-1) used some big gains of its own to climb back into the contest.
It began with a 70-yard kickoff return for Tyler Fields. That set up the Breakers at the Marina 10 after a Vikings penalty. On third and goal, Will Bingham threw a touchdown pass to Myles Freeman to get Laguna Beach on the board.
“Personally, it energized me, but I think more importantly, it energized my teammates, as well,” Breakers running back Jackson Golden said. “When they went back out on offense, back on defense, everyone was more hyped up after that play, so I think it helped me and it helped our team.”
The Breakers added two more touchdowns in the third quarter to narrow the deficit to 39-20 heading into the fourth quarter. Bingham found David Dworakowski for a 67-yard catch and run down the right sideline and Golden crashed into the end zone from eight yards out to account for the scoring.
Despite three more touchdowns by Golden in the fourth quarter, the Breakers never drew closer than the 19-point margin as the teams traded touchdowns. Golden had touchdown runs of 55 and 65 yards. He also scored on a 98-yard kickoff return, with Alex Morck making a key block on the play.
Golden finished with 135 rushing yards on 14 carries. His three rushing touchdowns came on his last three carries of the game. He had seven rushing yards at halftime.
Miller threw for 207 yards and four touchdowns, while Del Toro also had a 10-yard rushing touchdown after taking the snap at quarterback in the fourth quarter for Marina.
Thursday marked the first time that Marina has played at its home venue of Boswell Field this season, where it won the CIF Southern Section Division 11 championship last year.
“It’s nice,” Marina coach Jeff Turley said of being back. “We were talking about it, going, ‘What’s with the weather, too?’ We come back and all of the sudden it gets cold, just to remind us of the championship night.”
Several entries were made in the Laguna Beach record books. The 98-yard kickoff return for Golden tied Pat Wood (1993) and Drake Martinez (2012) for the third longest return in program history.
The combined total of 99 points ties the mark for the fifth-highest scoring game in which Laguna Beach has played. Additionally, the 40 points scored by the Breakers in the second half is second all-time for Laguna Beach.
“We’re going to be a pretty good football team after this,” Breakers coach John Shanahan said. “I think we’ll be a real good football team after this game. They helped make us a better football team tonight, their coaches, their players, and again, I think our kids learned a lot. We’ll be more physical, we’ll be more sound, we’ll practice harder.”
Nonleague
Marina 59, Laguna Beach 40
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Laguna Beach 0 – 0 – 20 – 20 – 40
Marina 0 – 33 – 6 – 20 – 59
FIRST QUARTER
None
SECOND QUARTER
M – Riederich 3 run (Keidel kick), 11:20.
M – McClour 18 pass from Miller (Keidel kick blocked), 8:27.
M – Brenton 21 pass from Miller (Keidel kick failed), 7:19.
M – Riederich 7 run (Keidel kick), 6:10.
M – Dykema 22 run (Keidel kick), 3:48.
THIRD QUARTER
LB – Freeman 10 pass from Bingham (Richards kick), 11:27.
M – Del Toro 10 run (Keidel kick failed), 8:06.
LB – Dworakowski 67 pass from Bingham (Richards kick), 7:45.
LB – Golden 8 run (Richards kick failed), 0:51
FOURTH QUARTER
M – McClour 19 pass from Miller (Keidel kick failed), 10:57.
LB – Golden 55 run (Richards kick failed), 10:10.
M – Dykema 24 run (Keidel kick), 9:03.
LB – Golden 98 kick return (Richards kick), 8:48.
M – McClour 53 pass from Miller (Keidel kick), 5:06.
LB – Golden 65 run (Richards kick), 4:09.
INDIVIDUAL RUSHING
LB – Golden, 14-135, 3 TDs.
M – Riederich, 16-157, 2 TDs.
INDIVIDUAL PASSING
LB – Bingham, 8-23-2, 161, 2 TDs.
M – Miller, 13-27-1, 207, 4 TDs.
INDIVIDUAL RECEIVING
LB – Dworakowski, 2-92, 1 TD.
M – McClour, 4-106, 3 TDs.
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