Big Battle

Mike Sciacca, Independent

This week marks the beginning of the 2000 Sunset League race, and

tonight, it doesn’t get any bigger than Marina versus Los Alamitos.

It’s 5-0 vs. 5-0, the ranked Vikings taking on the ranked Griffins, at

7 p.m. at Veterans Stadium in Long Beach, in the Independent’s Game of

the Week.

Los Al has pretty much done what is expected of a Los Al team; namely,

go unbeaten in nonleague play, then have everybody try to knock the

Griffins off in Sunset action.

Such is the case again this year, but, in the year 2000, the gap

between the top and bottom of the Sunset League standings is closer than

ever before.

Los Al won the league crown a year ago, and Marina finished third. The

Vikings are one of the teams with a real shot of knocking the Griffins

from their throne.

“Los Al always fields a strong program, and this year is no

different,” Marina Coach Mike Dodd said. “They are just solid all around,

and this will be a big test for us.

“The thing about Los Al is to not allow them to get the big play on

you. We’re going to attempt to play ball control football, work the

clock, and if we can do that, then we’ll have a great chance of winning

this thing in the fourth quarter.”

The Griffins, known for their long line of outstanding quarterbacks,

has seen senior Mike Catalano assume the title this year. In five games,

Catalano has thrown for 694 yards and five touchdowns with just one

interception, and is protected by a big offensive line.

Senior wide receiver Steve Shinen is the Griffins’ top receiver with

just over 200 yards, and also is Los Al’s top defensive player as a back.

He’s joined at receiver by talented senior Tony Holder.

Although there has been no dominate running back for the Griffins,

senior Adam Nauta (5-8, 173) leads all rushers with 393 yards in five

games.

The Los Al offense enters the game with a 32 points per game average.

“They have so many ways that they can beat you,” Dodd said. “A big key

for us in not to make too many errors, because they have a tough defense.

They are like piranhas, because they feed off other team’s turnovers, and

then the offense usually capitalizes on those recoveries.

“We don’t plan on doing anything different than what we’ve done in the

first five weeks of the season. I have a lot of confidence in our kids.

Our rushing game has been very strong, and our defense has done an

outstanding job. We’re 5-0 right now, but now comes league play, and

that’s where it counts.”