High School Football: Lots of scoring

The Sheue Field scoreboard at Huntington Beach High was put through a couple of rigorous workouts on consecutive nights.

On Thursday, Huntington Beach put up 41 points in a shutout victory over Animo South Los Angeles. Friday on the same turf, Marina and visiting Long Beach St. Anthony combined to light it up for 83 points.

Huntington Beach kicked off the action for local schools with its nonleague game against Animo South. The game was called late in the first quarter when Panthers running back Cary Matthews suffered a neck injury. The Oilers had a 41-0 lead with two minutes left in the quarter.

Senior running back Hunter Simmons scored four touchdowns, the first coming on an 85-yard return of the opening kickoff. He also scored on runs of 30, 52 and 64 yards.

Marina trailed St. Anthony throughout the Vikings’ homecoming game Friday but made a spirited rally in the third quarter, only to see the Saints finish strong and run away with a 55-28 victory.

St. Anthony (2-2) struck fast and countered Marina (1-4) every step of the way yet, the Vikings, who twice trailed by 16 points in the first half, had a chance to take the lead midway through the third quarter.

Marina trailed the Saints, 30-14, at halftime. On the third play after intermission, Marina sophomore free safety Caden Snyder intercepted St. Anthony quarterback Jack Graham a second time in the game at the Saints’ 36-yard line. Snyder, who intercepted Graham on the final play of the first half, returned the pick to the 16.

Two plays later, junior running back Cooper Malerstein took a handoff at the 16, broke a tackle at the 12 and went in for the score. Rand Keidel’s conversion made it 30-21.

The Marina defense held St. Anthony to its only three-and-out of the game on the Saints’ next series, and the Vikings got the ball back at their own 36. On second down from the 29, Malerstein caught a screen pass from quarterback Dominic Gonzalez at the 33, raced upfield and past the pursuit of several defenders, and shook off the grasp of Saints cornerback Nico Ragas inside the St. Anthony 35, and went on to score on a 71-yard pass play.

With Keidel’s point-after kick, the Vikings were back in the game trailing 30-28 with 6:36 left to play in the third quarter.

One play after Malerstein’s fourth touchdown of the night, Marina got the ball back when the exchange on a handoff between Graham and running back BJ Busbee, who had a sensational night for the Saints, was fumbled and the Vikings’ recovered at the Saints’ 15.

Marina, however, squandered a golden opportunity.

The Vikings reached the one-yard line when Gonzalez gained seven yards on a third-down keeper. On first-and-goal, the Vikings were hit with a delay-of-game penalty. A rush by Malerstein lost two yards before Gonzalez went four yards on a keeper to the four. On third down, Gonzalez was sacked for a five-yard loss by Logan Gamble. On fourth down, Keidel’s 25-yard field goal attempt was blocked by defensive end Curtis Weaver with 2:13 left in the quarter.

Just as quickly as Marina got back into the game, St. Anthony turned on the jets to win comfortably.

Three plays after the blocked field goal, Busbee went untouched around right end and scored on a 61-yard run. On the second play of St. Anthony’s next possession, Graham dumped a short pass over the middle to Ragas who had nothing but open field ahead. Directing a blocker inside the 10, he made a few cuts and one final juke to reach the end zone. His 42-yard score put the Saints up, 43-28, with 10:51 remaining.

The Saints’ next score also came on a two-play possession, this one ending on a 43-yard touchdown pass between Graham and receiver Tyler Smith. Graham, who passed for 354 yards, threw his fifth TD pass of the game when he and Gamble hooked up on a 65-yard touchdown pass play with 6:28 to go.

Busbee started the game’s scoring by taking a pitch from Graham and turning it into a 40-yard touchdown run on St. Anthony’s first possession of the game. Marina scored early in the second quarter when Malerstein turned a screen pass from starting quarterback Anthony De La Torre and turned it into a 24-yard touchdown. The point after was missed, and Marina trailed, 7-6. Two plays later, Busbee scored on a tackle-breaking 79-yard run, and Graham hit Ziggy Tua with a two-point pass to put the Saints up, 15-6.

Graham and Busbee teamed on a 20-yard scoring pass later in the quarter. Marina got to within 22-14 when receiver Javier Sanchez went high over Saints defensive back James Randolph to make a nice grab of a De La Torre pass in the end zone. The 11-yard scoring play and a De La Torre to Sanchez two-point pass came with 1:54 left in the half.

The Saints weren’t finished. Less than a minute later, Graham hit Ragas 13 yards upfield at the St. Anthony 33, and the shifty Ragas turned the pass into am 80-yard scoring play.

Huntington and Marina will be back at Sheue Field in two weeks when the rivals square off in a Sunset League opener Oct. 9.

Busbee led all rushers with 211 yards.

The Oilers and Vikings both are idle next week.

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Other Friday games:

Edison held a 10-7 second-quarter lead on Mater Dei but the host Monarchs, ranked third in the CIF Southern Section PAC-5 Division, rattled off the next 28 points and pulled away to a 42-26 nonleague victory at the Santa Ana Bowl.

Edison, ranked ninth in the CIF-SS West Valley Division, closed out nonleague play with a 2-3 record. The Chargers are idle next week and start their Sunset League season Oct. 8 hosting defending league champion Los Alamitos at Huntington Beach High.

Ocean View won for the second-straight week and squared its record at 2-2 by overwhelming host Bolsa Grande (0-4), 45-0.

The Seahawks play their final nonleague game next Thursday when they travel to face Estancia.

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Saturday’s game:

Brethren Christian (4-0) vs. Heritage Christian (2-2)

(7 p.m., Granada Hills High)

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Idle: Fountain Valley (2-2)