Marina’s late rally falls short against El Modena, suffers first football setback

SANTA ANA —  Marina High missed a chance to start the football season 5-0 for the first time since 2000.

The Vikings fought back from a 22-point deficit in the fourth quarter before falling short in their comeback attempt, losing 28-24 to El Modena in a nonleague road game on Friday at Segerstrom High.

“Defensively we had some communication problems,” Marina coach Jeff Turley said. “We had a tough week, we had a lot of guys who were sick, and we just didn’t execute the way we had been playing.”

In the first quarter, Aiden Ruiz forced a fumble for El Modena (4-1). The turnover led to Nathan Lomeli throwing an eight-yard touchdown to Zane Metoyer, giving the Vanguards a 7-0 lead after the extra point. Metoyer had six catches for 116 yards.

El Modena continued to dominate in the first quarter, going ahead 14-0 on a four-yard touchdown run from Jean Vargas. The Vanguards built a 21-0 lead after Marcus Manion’s eight-yard touchdown run midway through the second quarter.

Marina ended the shutout in the third quarter. Quarterback Jack Miller threw a 15-yard touchdown to Eric Church, cutting the deficit to 21-6. The Vikings were unable to get the extra-point kick off because of a bad snap, forcing Marina to go for two-point conversions the rest of the way.

“We didn’t execute our two-point conversion, which in the past we haven’t had a problem with, and it made the difference in the game,” said Turley, whose team failed on its next three two-point attempts.

The missed opportunities proved to be the difference in a four-point loss.

El Modena extended its lead to 28-6 late in the third quarter, when backup quarterback Jack Keays scored on a one-yard run.

The Vikings battled back in the fourth quarter, thanks to backup quarterback Gavin Del Toro (115 passing yards and two touchdowns). He took over for Miller (166 passing yards and one touchdown, including an interception), who exited after taking a shot.

Marina got a four-yard touchdown run from Pharoah Rush, an 18-yard touchdown pass from Del Toro to Justin Moen, and a one-yard touchdown pass from Del Toro to Gavin Dykema to trim the lead to 28-24.

But time ran out on Marina’s undefeated season. The Vikings (4-1), ranked No. 5 in the CIF Southern Section Division 11 poll, will try to bounce back in a nonleague game at Laguna Beach (4-1), No. 8 in Division 12, on Oct. 4.

Nonleague

El Modena 28, Marina 24

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Marina 0 – 0 – 6 – 18 — 24

El Modena 7 – 14 – 7 – 0 — 28

FIRST QUARTER

EM – Metoyer 8 pass from Lomeli (Guzman kick), 5:14.

SECOND QUARTER

EM – Vargas 4 run (Guzman kick), 8:24.

EM – Manion 8 run (Guzman kick), 5:26.

THIRD QUARTER

M – Church 15 pass from Miller (run failed), 7:07.

EM – Keays 1 run (Guzman kick), :28.

FOURTH QUARTER

M – Rush 4 run (pass failed), 8:53.

M – Moen 18 pass from Del Toro, (pass failed), 3:42.

M – Dykema 1 pass from Del Toro, (pass failed), :10.

INDIVIDUAL RUSHING

M – Riederich, 18-47.

EM – Manion, 17-72, 1 TD.

INDIVIDUAL PASSING

M – Miller, 13-26-1, 166, 1 TD.

EM – Lomeli, 12-19-0, 186, 1 TD.

INDIVIDUAL RECEIVING

M – Church, 5-81, 1 TD.

EM – Metoyer, 6-116, 1 TD.

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