High School Football: The big game is back

Two-and-a-half miles. Twenty years. One is the distance between the high school campuses of Ocean View and Marina; the other, a time gap that has separated the two school’s football programs.

The one-time Sunset League rivals will meet on the gridiron Friday for the first time in two decades when the Seahawks and Vikings tangle at Ocean View. Kickoff is 7 p.m.

It’s the season opener for Ocean View. Marina started its 2013 season last week.

“Our kids, and our alumni, are excited to start the season and play Marina,” Ocean View second-year coach Luis Nunez said. “It’s been a while since the schools have played each other and our kids are pumped for this game. We have a lot to prove, and want the respect of the city.”

Ocean View Athletic Director Tim Walsh said the last time the schools met on the football field was during the 1993 season. Walsh was a part of that meeting, starting at receiver for the Seahawks in a game won by Marina.

That 1993-94 school year was the final one in the Sunset League for Ocean View.

“It’s the kind of rivalry I want to start up again,” Marina Coach George Pascoe said. “It’s fun to play against kids you competed with in Little League, AYSO, whatever the sport. A lot of these kids know one another so it should be a fun game.”

It was Pascoe’s idea to renew the game, Nunez said.

“He contacted me about playing, and I thought it was great,” Nunez said. “I’m all for trying to revive that tradition. This is a big game for us, a big step, but we’re excited for the opportunity.”

Turnovers by Marina put the Vikings in a hole last week in their opener at Pico Rivera El Rancho. They turned the ball over four times, two each by interception and fumble with one fumble being returned for a touchdown.

Three miscues led to 21 points for the Dons.

“Those turnovers really hurt us,” Pascoe said. “It’s was hard to overcome them but we [coaches] were really, really pleased with the way the kids kept fighting. It was out of control at the half (42-6) but our guys didn’t stop competing. They didn’t throw in the towel and continued to play hard. That was really great to see.”

Senior quarterback Daylan Harmeyer connected with junior tight end Josh Gordon on a 60-yard scoring pass play in the opening quarter. Harmeyer, a transfer from Edison, finished nine of 13 for 126 yards and also scored on a 14-yard run. Senior quarterback Shane Green also had a big touchdown pass play, one that covered 70 yards to senior receiver Dawayne Johnson who was playing his first game for Marina.

Johnson is a transfer from Modesto.

Senior Zach Blair had an interception for the Vikings.

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Thursday

Garfield (0-1) vs. Edison (1-0)

(7 p.m., Huntington Beach High)

Edison has a short work week to get ready for its second game of the season.

Thursday’s opponent, Garfield, started its season last week at Ventura St. Bonaventure. The Bulldogs suffered a 42-14 defeat to a Seraphs team that entered the season ranked No. 5 in the CIF Southern Section Pac-5 Division. Sophomore quarterback Ausencio Navarro was 17 of 23 for 176 yards and a touchdown.

“Garfield is a much better team this year than they were a year ago,” Edison Coach Dave White said. “They played St. Bonaventure pretty tough.”

Edison overcame three turnovers and 120 yards in penalties in its season opener Friday to score a 27-18 win at Compton Centennial. Senior running back Marcus Swanigan rushed for 142 yards and had two touchdowns. His 13-yard TD run tied the score (6-6) in the opening quarter, and his eight-yard run in the fourth pushed the lead to 27-12.

Junior Matt Gane threw for 96 yards with a five-yard scoring pass to Diego Velez, and also scored on a three-yard run for the Chargers who are ranked No. 1 in the CIF Southern Section Southwest Division poll.

“You could tell that we are a very experienced team,” White said. “Our first-half performance wasn’t very good. We made too many mistakes and you just can’t do that and expect to win a whole lot of games. We have a lot of work to do but most of this stuff is fixable.

“I thought Marcus [Swanigan] had a real nice game for us at tailback. He’s a senior and was a backup running back last year, so it was nice to see him come out right from the start and play so well. I also thought Manase Time played hard on defense.”

Time, a junior end/linebacker, had 10 tackles and a sack.

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Friday

Dana Hills (0-1) vs. Fountain Valley (1-0)

(7 p.m., Huntington Beach High)

Fountain Valley will attempt to follow up on its stirring, opening win at Foothill with another big performance Friday when the Barons open their home schedule against the Dolphins.

Fountain Valley came up with a big second half Friday at Tustin High, the effort resulting in a 49-28 victory over Foothill to make Ray Fenton’s coaching debut at the school a success. The Barons put up 21 second-half points while the defense posted a shutout in the final two quarters.

Senior quarterback Scott Schultz threw for 152 yards with an 87-yard touchdown pass to senior receiver Jacob Church and an 11-yard touchdown passes to junior receiver Ryan Finley. Senior quarterback Travis Hood, a transfer from Buena Park playing in his first game for the Barons, threw for 111 yards with TD passes to Noah Rivard (66 yards) and Anthony Arevalos (11, 15 yards), the latter a transfer from Cypress.

Senior running back Isaiah Davis was the game’s leading rusher with 121 yards which included a scoring run of 73 yards late in the first quarter that put the Barons in front, 14-7.

Fountain Valley’s defense also got into the scoring act when junior cornerback Jacob Rodriguez returned an interception 71 yards for a touchdown in the second quarter. Rodriguez also returned an interception for a score in the Barons’ scrimmage two weeks ago against Corona del Mar.

The Barons defense came up with four turnovers including three interceptions.

“I’m really happy for the guys and the success they had Friday,” Fenton said. “They have put in a lot of hard work so it was really great to see them do so well. We talked about ‘finishing’ from Day 1, and the guys did just that. They finished.

“I thought both of our quarterbacks (Schultz, Hood) did a great job. One (Schultz) averaged 11 yards per completion, and the other (Hood), averaged 10 yards per pass. Those are pretty good averages.”

Dana Hills began its season Friday and lost, 31-10, to Trabuco Hills. Senior quarterback Mac Vail threw for 159 yards and senior running back Andrew Dunn rushed for a touchdown.

“They do a really good job running the ball and they are a well-coached team,” Fenton said of the Dolphins.

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Huntington Beach (1-0) vs. Magnolia (1-0)

(7 p.m., Western High)

A week after opening with a home win against Bakersfield Christian, Huntington plays it initial road game of the season against the Sentinels at Handel Stadium.

Two big plays, a goal line defensive stand late in the first half, and a long touchdown pass on the final play of the half, turned the tide for the Oilers in their 32-10 opening win against Bakersfield Christian at Sheue Field.

The defensive stance protected a 10-3 Oilers’ lead.

“Our guys came up big down there when it was still anybody’s game,” Huntington Coach Eric Lo said.”

On their ensuing possession, Oilers senior quarterback Kai Ross eluded a heavy rush and, with time expired, threw to the back of the Bakersfield Christian end zone. There to make a great catch behind a BC defender was Tucker deCamp. His only reception of the half put the Oilers on top, 17-3.

It was a wild ending to the first half of a game that was marred by penalties called against both teams.

“That was Kai Ross being the good athlete that he is,” Lo said of the senior’s scramble and save. “Tucker [deCamp] made a great catch and he’s a real good athlete, too. He had that other nice catch there toward the end of the game. We made some big plays tonight.”

Huntington, which entered the game with a No. 6 preseason ranking in the CIF Southern Section Southwest Division, scored on its opening possession of the season. Ross did the honors on a 23-yard run up the middle on a fourth-and-three play.

Daniel Flores hit a 34-yard field goal in the second quarter that was set up by a partially blocked punt by the Oilers defense. In the second half, senior receiver/cornerback Maurice Barber came up with an interception at the BC 37 to set up Huntington’s next score, a touchdown pass from Ross to junior receiver Nolan Thompson.

Ross and deCamp teamed up for another score in the fourth quarter when Ross threaded a pass between defenders that was caught by deCamp.

Huntington also had two touchdowns called back in the game. Senior running back Lee Durant returned the second-half kickoff 84 yards for an apparent touchdown, but it was negated by an illegal block call. Late in the third quarter, Ross took an interception back 71 yards for another apparent score, but it was wiped off by a defensive holding call.

Ross threw for 238 yards (13 of 25) and also rushed for 70s yards. Barber had four receptions total 89 yards,

“I thought Lee [Durant], Nolan [Thompson] and Tucker [deCamp] had great games, Kai [Ross] also did some really good things, and Maurice [Barber] was just outstanding,” Lo said.

Magnolia, which won only three games a year ago, got its 2013 season off to a promising start Friday by taking a 41-20 victory from Norwalk John Glenn. Running back Larry Cooper of the Sentinels rushed for a game-best 113 yards with touchdown runs of nine and 78 yards, and also scored on pass plays covering 40 and 21 yards. Both passes were from quarterback Adeel Akbar who threw for 145 yards and also rushed for a touchdown.

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Idle: Brethren Christian (0-1).

Brethren Christian was did in by the turnover — six, to be exact, in its opener Friday against Arrowhead Christian Academy. The visiting Eagles scored the final 21 points of the game to wipe out a three-point deficit and win, 41-23. The loss overshadowed a record performance for quarterback Jack McInally.

McInally began his senior campaign by throwing for 419 yards (17 of 34) and three touchdowns with two interceptions, a new school single-game record for passing yards. He surpassed the old school record of 368 yards set in 1989.

Junior receiver Guy Demazeliere had two touchdown receptions and finished with three catches for 158 yards. He turned a screen pass into a 75-yard scoring play, and took a slant pass for 76 yards to the end zone.

Junior receiver Brandon Bryson had four receptions total 143 yards including a 27-yard touchdown catch.

“It’s tough to win when you make six turnovers,” BC Coach Pat McInally said. “Their quarterback (Bradley Mowbray) did a great job. He’s a good runner and we just couldn’t stop him.”

Mowbray rushed for 193 yards and passed for 118 more and accounted for four touchdowns. His final score, a 47-yard interception return for a TD, completed the game’s scoring.

BC was scheduled to play at Inglewood Animo Leadership Saturday, but Animo Leadership canceled its entire 2013 football season prior to the start of the season, Pat McInally said.

The Warriors return to play Sept. 20 with a road game at Simi Valley Grace Brethren.