Author:	Hector Ruiz
	Grade:	Senior
	School:	Mariner HS
	Mascot:	Marauders
	League:	Wesco South
	Classification:	4A

Hello, my name is Hector Ruiz and I am a senior at Mariner High School in Everett, WA. This fall is the last football season of my high school career.  It has been a wild ride all the way through our last game against our rivals, the Kamiak Knights, a game I had been getting ready for since this past summer.

The local papers dubbed the Friday, October 12 game “The Battle of Mukilteo,” an appropriate title for the Kamiak/Mariner rivalry game which started in 1993 when Kamiak High School opened and many Mariner teachers, coaches and players drifted toward the new school.
Not all coaches left, however.  Entering his fourth season as head coach of the Marauder football team, John Ondriezek had the opportunity to take over the new program at Kamiak but chose to stay at Mariner.  To Ondriezek and the other coaches that stayed at Mariner, the choice was obvious:  “We decided to stay because of our Mariner pride and Blue Thunder tradition, which we still have, and always will. These have been the basis of our philosophy for success, which we hope our kids will keep and follow for the rest of their lives.”

The fight began on Monday morning at school. Everyone on the team knew what was at stake; a spot in the state playoffs and bragging rights for the rest of our lives.  Our coaches said that week had been the most focused they had seen us yet. No one had to say anything. Everyone just knew their obligation. No one gets in trouble, everyone is eligible, and everyone was at the game. Hard work does pay off. By Friday night we were ready to go.

Pride and tradition – those two words drove me and the Marauder team through four quarters against Kamiak that Friday night.  Those two words will stay with me for the rest of my life.  There is one more word that I would use to describe our performance Friday night and our team throughout this season: family. We played as brothers, we trusted each other, we supported one another in times of need, on and off of the field.   That Friday night, we were fighting for each other, and with that in our minds and our hearts, we celebrated a crushing 50-22 victory over our rivals. For the seniors, we won the battle for one last time and our third time in a row, an accomplishment that was only achieved by one other Mariner team 15 years ago.

“That’s the name of our game” coach O. said, and I couldn’t agree more.

Hector Ruiz
MARINER '13