The Mar Vista High School football team found its beach — in Santa Cruz — last weekend as the Mariners ventured to the Bay Area to play the Harbor Pirates in a non-league game.
MVHS head coach Tyler Arciaga termed the trip successful after his team came home with a 42-6 victory, and a lot of memories.
“The trip to Santa Cruz was successful, as we accomplished our primary goal to win a ballgame on the road,” Arciaga explained. “The kids conducted themselves in a mature manner that allowed us to have effective practices and keep our focus on the road. Despite the win, we know we have a lot of work to do to improve. The kids are working hard to prepare for Gabrielino (this Friday at home), as know they will be solid in all phases of the game.”
Arciaga, who played collegiately at UNLV (the SDSU Aztecs’ opponent at Qualcomm Stadium on Sept. 27), said the trip to Santa Cruz allowed the team “to bond” and “see sights that they have never seen before.”
“We were able to tour Alcatraz, Chinatown and Golden Gate Park as well as the Boardwalk on Santa Cruz,” the MVHS coach said. “I hope this is something we can do in the future, as I believe these are some of the more memorable experiences they will have throughout high school.”
As for the game, played last Friday, the Mariners (2-1) received two touchdowns from leading rusher Khalil Spruill while senior quarterback Ben Munoz ran for one score and passed for another.
Spruill rushed for 132 yards against Harbor and leads the Mariners with four TDs on the season. He scored on runs of two and six yards last Friday.
Senior Nijal Collins caught a 35-yard touchdown pass while senior Zennon Jurado scored on a one-yard run and Josh Cooper returned a punt 75 yards for a touchdown in the final quarter.
Kicker Abe Sanchez was successful on all six PAT conversions.
Mar Vista led, 28-6, at halftime.
Costly miss for Titans
A missed extra point in Eastlake’s non-league game against Los Alamitos at Millikan High School in Long Beach last Friday proved costly in a 17-16 loss to the undefeated Griffins.
The Titans (1-2) scored two touchdowns and added a field goal, but a missed PAT conversion on their second TD proved to be the difference in the game after Los Alamitos (2-0) scored on a 40-yard field goal by Jacob Gasser with 7:22 to play to edge in front by a point.
Eastlake led 10-7 at halftime on a 14-yard rushing touchdown scored by Dean Klaser in the first quarter and a 19-yard field goal by Aiden Johnson in the second quarter.
Isaiah Strayhorn upped the Titans’ lead to 16-7 by scoring on a two-yard touchdown in the third quarter but a bad snap on the ensuing PAT attempt forced Johnson to pick up the ball and attempt to run it in for a two-point conversion. However, he was stopped short of the goal line.
Los Alamitos passed for 168 yards and rushed for 163 yards to total 331 offensive yards in the contest. Jack Telenko and Matt Locher each scored touchdowns for the victors.
Locher was the defensive star of the game for the Griffins with 26 tackles. He made a key stop on fourth-and-one with just over five minutes remaining to force the visitors to turn the ball over on downs.
Eastlake rushed for 285 yards against Los Alamitos, with Strayhorn carrying the load with 159 yards on the ground. Penalties proved costly for the Titans in helping set up the Griffins’ second touchdown.
Eastlake will attempt to get back in the win column when it hosts Madison Friday at 7 p.m. The match-up will be a key one in terms of determining which teams qualify for the upcoming Open Division playoffs.
Strayhorn leads the Titans with 420 rushing yards through three games while Nate Sweat tops the EHS defense with 31 tackles and five sacks.
“Too many mistakes still,” Titan coach Lee Price noted. “The team needs to focus on discipline and we’ll do much better. The offense is getting better. A couple of key injuries also hurt us. Los Alamitos is a good team.”
Jon Bigornia contributed to this report
