Second Half Slump Dooms Fountain Valley Against Marina (2021)

Westminster – Boswell Field

In a game that featured two former Sunset League rivals, the Marina High School football used a big second to defeat Fountain Valley 40-17 on Friday at Boswell Field at Westminster High School.

“In the second half, [we made] mental mistakes, guys are tired, we’re placing guys with young guys and our young guys have to be mature enough to show up and stay during the week. A lot of them missed practice and it shows up when things get difficult like right now,” Barons head coach David Gutierrez said.

The game got off to a not-so promising start for the Barons, as the opening kickoff went off the hand of one of their players and the Vikings (1-3) eventual recovered the kick to give them the first drive on offense. Eventually, Brock Beaver found Dominic Harvey wide open for a 21-yard touchdown pass.

On the next drive, Fountain Valley was able to get the ball all the way down to the Marina 13-yard line but was only able to come up with a field goal, making the score 7-3 in favor of the designated home team.

The second quarter saw the Vikings get picked off on the next drive, as Beaver was picked off by Ivan Benitez on the Barons’ 42-yard line. The interception seemed to galvanize the Barons’ offense, as Owen Tomko found Drew Reyes for a 58-yard touchdown, giving the Barons the lead at 10-7.

With 1:43 in the quarter, the Vikings went for it on fourth down and Beaver found Luke Lastra wide open for a 20-yard touchdown, allowing them to retake the lead at 14-10. But Tomko and Fountain Valley responded with a two-play drive that only ate up 14 seconds and found Scott Peshke for a 65-yard touchdown pass, retaking the lead at 17-14.

On the next drive, Marina turned it over on downs only to see the Barons give the ball back via an interception a play later, courtesy from Cade Jackman. The Vikings got the ball all the way down to the Barons’ 30-yard line, only for them to come away empty, as the two teams went into the halftime.

Tyler Nowicki picked off a pass and landed on the Barons’ 10-yard line only to see them punt. Eventually, Marina retook the lead at 21-17 with a 2-yard touchdown run.

Starting from its own 10 after Fountain Valley fell just short of a first down run from Tomko, Marina made big plays to get its next touchdown. First it was Aiden O’Callaghan making an impressive 27-yard grab in between two defenders, then it was Harvey picking up a rushing gain of 29 yards afterward and O’Callaghan caping off the drive with a 22-yard touchdown catch.

After Fountain Valley turned it over on downs, the Vikings made the most of their possession, as they started from their own 38, and eventually capped it off with an 11-yard rushing touchdown from Harvey. They eventually kept the Barons off the scoreboard in the second, as they clinched their first win of the season.

Tomko finished 9/15 with 206 yards, two touchdowns and one interception while Peshke and Reyes had 107 and 99 receiving yards respectfully. Ben Pham and Hercules Windwrath handled the rushing yard duties, totaling 33 and 10 respectfully.

Fountain Valley (1-3) will have a bye next week, but is back in action on Friday September 24 when it travels to Aliso Viejo to take on Aliso Niguel at 7 p.m.
“I think the biggest thing is getting healthy, getting guys back on the field and continue to stay in shape because there’s a lot of guys playing two ways, so we’ll continue to condition during the bye,” Gutierrez said.