BY TED APODACA: Pacifica High football looks like it is back. After consecutive 2-8 seasons, the Mariners and Mariner faithful are seeing Pacifica football as they are accustomed to seeing it.
The Mariners (3-1) were a little sluggish in the first half against Aliso Niguel Thursday night, but they woke up in the second half and rolled to a 37-20 non-league win over the Wolverines at Bolsa Grande High.
BY TED APODACA: Pacifica High football looks like it is back. After consecutive 2-8 seasons, the Mariners and Mariner faithful are seeing Pacifica football as they are accustomed to seeing it.
The Mariners (3-1) were a little sluggish in the first half against Aliso Niguel Thursday night, but they woke up in the second half and rolled to a 37-20 non-league win over the Wolverines at Bolsa Grande High.
Aliso Niguel had taken a 20-13 lead at halftime, but Pacifica was jolted awake to start the third quarter when Mathew Estrada returned the second half opening kickoff 91 yards down the left sideline to tie the game, 20-20.
“I think, truthfully, there was a little bit of a slow start in the first half because of what happened last week, the letdown versus Garden Grove,” Pacifica coach Vinnie Lopez said.
Last week, the Mariners were stunned by Garden Grove, which scored 16 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to steal a 30-27 win from Pacifica. But at halftime against Aliso, it was player leaders who urged the team to swing the momentum in the second half.
“It was a great effort by our seniors to step up and take the bull by the horns,” Lopez said.
After Estrada’s kickoff return, the Mariner defense quickly forced a three and out punt by Aliso, that set up the Mariners at their own 44 yard line. A 20-yard pass completion on the first play moved the ball to the Wolverine 36 yard line. Quarterback Nick Garcia ran for a couple of eight-yard gains, and two plays later ran another eight yards for a touchdown to give the Mariners a 27-20 lead.
Lopez said the offense seemed to be pressing too much in the first half.
“We settled down and just went back to doing the things that we do,” Lopez said of the second half surge.
On Aliso Niguel’s ensuing possession, the Mariners allowed just one first down before forcing another punt. This time, the Mariners responded with a 10-play drive that was capped with a 16-yard touchdown pass from Garcia to Andre Purnell that gave the Mariners a 34-20 lead with 2:13 left in the third.
Key on the drive, were runs of 16 and 12 yards by Marcus Tolbert and a 14-yard run by Garcia. Garcia finished the night with 151 passing yards and 117 rushing yards, with three touchdowns. The Mariners are one bad quarter away from being 4-0. But after two tough seasons, 3-1 sure seems to indicate that they are ready to once again be a factor in the Empire League race. The Mariners face a tough Westminster team on Oct. 2, at Bolsa Grande High, before opening league play on Oct. 8 against Cypress.
“The buy-in has been incredible, and they were just craving the wins … it’s a great group of kids and they deserve everything they are getting through hard work,” Lopez said.
