Marina High's Mark Spoolstra turned in his best performance of the
season last Friday against city rival Huntington Beach High, and part
of that effort included being in one key play that helped Marina
preserve its first Sunset League victory.
Spoolstra, a 6-foot-1, 220-pound linebacker, teamed with fellow
linebacker Danny Falkenstein to stop Huntington Beach star running
back Patrick Harrigan on a fourth-and-two play in the waning moments
to allow the Vikings to escape with a 14-13 road triumph on a rainy
night at Sheue Field.
The play typified Spoolstra's presence in the game and capped a
performance that saw the senior finish with a career-best 16 tackles.
His efforts, which also included one caused fumble, earned
Spoolstra the Independent's Player of the Week honor.
"He was definitely our defensive player of the game," Marina coach
Mike Dodd said. "Mark gave a tremendous effort and played a heck of a
game."
Spoolstra's defensive stops helped Marina improve to 3-4 overall
and even its Sunset League record at 1-1.
