AJ PEREZ (6) flashes a victory sign as he scores for Huntington Beach in the Oilers’ 45-13 win over Marina Thursday night at Sheue Field (Orange County Tribune photo by Christopher Abdelmalek).

By Christopher Abdelmalek

When rivalry week approaches, it usually brings out the best in both schools. This year’s battle between Marina High School Vikings and the Huntington Beach Oilers was a bit one sided, as the Oilers (3-2) soundly defeated the Vikings (1-4) Thursday night at Shue Field in Huntington Beach, 45-13. This was thanks in large part to Oilers quarterback AJ Perez, who accounted for four total touchdowns on the night.

“He is big time,” said Oilers Coach Brett Brown of his quarterback. “He has become a really good leader.” Perez started the scoring off with a beautiful scramble from the pocket for a 25-yard scamper and score to lead the Vikings 6-0 after a missed extra point. A few series later, the Oilers would score again, this time on a fake punt by Tyler Moses to extend the lead to 12-0 late in the first quarter.

BO GREEN (13) is congratulated after scoring Marina’s first touchdown against Huntington Beach on a pass from Brock Beaver.

The Vikings offense was stagnant most of the first half, going three and out and punting the ball often. After giving the ball back to the home team early in the second quarter, the Vikings defense let them down again, giving up a long touchdown pass to AJ Vandermade from Perez for 35-yards and the score to push the lead to 18-0. Later on, in the second Perez would toss his second touchdown of the game to Jordan Castro to make it a 25-0 score line with a few minutes left in the first half.

The Vikings finally made it to the end zone with less than a minute left in the second quarter as quarterback Brock Beaver found wide receiver Bo Green from just inside the redzone to make it a 25-7 game just before the break. But once again the Vikings defense let them down, giving up another long touchdown pass, this time an 80-yard toss down the sideline from Perez to Hideo Ray. After another missed extra point, it was 31-7 at half time.

The Oilers would tack on a touchdown run from Evan Riederich mid-way through the third and on the next possession, would force a fumble and it was returned for the touchdown by defensive linemen Nathan Tauanuu. This made the score 45-7. A late touchdown toss from Beaver to Green again made it a 45-13 score line, but that wasn’t enough for the Vikings, as the Oilers held on for the victory in this one.

Coach Brown after the game talked about what the Oilers need to do to take this momentum into their league games next week. “We got to clean some stuff up, we 190 yards in penalties, which is not good. We will fix that and get better.” The Oilers (3-2) will need to do so as they will open league play as the host to the Fountain Valley Barons (1-3) next Friday. The Vikings (1-4) are a few weeks away from league play but will look to bounce back next week as they host St. Anthony High School (1-3). Both games are scheduled for 7 p.m. start times.

Thursday night football (scores will be posted as they are received)

• Pacifica 49, Buena Park 0: Darius Cowens ran for five touchdowns and passed for two more as the Mariners improved to 4-0. Buena Park fell to 0-5. The M’s led 42-0 at halftime of this non-league game.
• Saddleback 41, Bolsa Grande 14: The Matadors are 2-2 after the non-league loss.
• Huntington Beach 45, Marina 13: The Oilers improve to 3-2, while the Vikings go to 1-4. (See story above).

The Savanna vs. Westminster game was forfeited after several Rebel players left the bench during an on-field altercation last week against Morningside High of Inglewood.