WESTMINSTER – Marina quarterback Garrett Hunnicutt put three quarters of largely forgettable football behind him and engineered a stirring comeback for a 27-24 double-overtime victory over previously unbeaten Beckman to earn a share of the Lambda League title.

The Vikings (9-1, 4-1) trailed 14-6 when they forced a punt and took over at their own 25 with 6:38 left in the fourth quarter. Methodical and showing no signs of panic, and needing just one big chunk play – a 14-yard pass to Gabe Carles on third-and-14, the Vikings drove 75 yards in five minutes.

Marina’s Garrett Hunnicutt (3) scores the winning touchdown during double overtime in a high school football game between Beckman high and Marina high in a Lambda League game at Westminster High School on Friday, Nov. 1…..(Photo by Michael Goulding, Contributing Photographer)

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Hunnicutt, whose 6-yard run gave them first-and-goal at the 10, found Shane Cassidy free in the end zone for the TD with 56 seconds left, then Jake Russell made a diving catch for the 2-point conversion and a 14-14 tie.

“We did everything else wrong but we played with heart and we played with toughness,” said Marina head coach Charlie TeGantvoort, who watched as his team lost six turnovers, including three red zone interceptions and two straight lost fumbles on kickoffs to start the second half.

Marina stayed on the ground in the first overtime, with Carles running in from 2 yards out for the first score. Beckman (9-1, 4-1) answered back with a 2-yard scoring run from Adam Diaz to tie the score 21-21 and force a second overtime.

TeGantvoort said he had to put a patchwork defensive line on the field, that many of them had never played DL in a game before.

But two short stops forced the Patriots to a field goal attempt, which Gui DeLuca hit for a 24-21 lead.

“I think Logan Pulford, Talon Acosta, Brandon Atchinson and Emitt Bean all did an outstanding job,” TeGantvoort said. “Most of them had never played defensive line before this week.”

It looked like the field goal might be enough. Nathaniel Noh’s 8-yard sack of Hunnicutt gave Marina fourth-and-12 from the 27, but Hunnicutt managed hit Cassidy for a 24-yard completion. Two plays later, Hunnicut found his way into the end zone from a yard out for the victory.

“Ir was two really, really good teams,” Beckman coach Marcello Giuliano said. “They made a couple of more plays than we did, we made a couple of more mistakes than they did. Whenever you lose a game that you feel like you had the opportunity to win it’s a hard one to swallow.”

Marina and Beckman finished in a three-way tie for the league title with Kennedy (7-3, 4-1), which beat Marina 28-14 on Oct. 24. Kennedy’s loss in league was to Beckman, 20-14, in overtime on Oct. 17.

Marina football grabs share of league title by beating Beckman in 2OT with stunning finish

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