WESTMINSTER — The offense didn’t always run smoothly, but Marina did enough to mitigate its mistakes and penalties in a 23-10 victory over rival Fountain Valley in a nonleague game Thursday at Westminster High School.
Marina (2-1) also got a huge boost from its defense, which held the Barons (1-2) scoreless in the second half.
“We had a lot of dumb penalties,” Marina coach Charlie TeGantvoort said. “Penalties I can’t even explain. But we play really hard and we’re tough, and if you do those two things, good things happen.”
Marina quarterback Francis Saporito completed 16 of 24 passes for a season-high 171 passing yards and one touchdown. He also ran for a touchdown.
After being penalized for illegal procedure on back-to-back downs, the Vikings faced a third-and-15 from the Fountain Valley 36. Saporito got some of those yards back on a 6-yard completion to Noah Valdez and then connected with Shea Putney for a 30-yard touchdown on a perfectly thrown pass on the next play, giving Marina a 14-7 lead.
The Barons responded with 52-yard drive down to the Marina 6 where they had a first-and-goal.
One play later and with time running out in the first half, linebacker Jackson Moore sacked quarterback Isaac Combs for an 8-yard loss.
Fountain Valley was out of timeouts and Combs was forced to spike the ball on the next down, leaving three seconds on the clock.
Instead of scoring a game-tying touchdown, the Barons settled for a 30-yard field goal from Jack Chavez as time ran out.
In the third quarter, Chavez blocked a field goal attempt, keeping the Barons within one score.
But on the ensuing drive, Marina’s Cameron Evans blocked a punt deep in Barons territory.
The ball rolled into the end zone and was recovered by Fountain Valley, resulting in a safety for Marina.
Later in the third, Fountain Valley lined up to punt again, but the punter wasn’t able to handle a bad snap and Marina’s Cameron Evans smothered the ball, giving the Vikings possession on the Barons 13.
Marina’s Ben Ramos scored on a 13-yard run on the next play to put the Vikings ahead by two touchdowns.
Combs scored the Barons lone touchdown on a 6-yard run in the first quarter.
“We definitely could have played a better game,” Saporito said. “We definitely want to see improvements, our whole team. We played with effort. That’s our best attribute above all is just effort and wanting it. But it comes down to who’s going to be able to execute. So, we’ve still got to work on that. But I love our team. I love how hard we go. I love how hard we want it.”