OXNARD – Cody Clark led a stable of hard-charging San Marcos running backs with three touchdowns and 154 yards rushing, and the Royals wore down Hueneme 27-9 for their first road victory in three years Friday night.
Clark scored on runs of 14, 34 and 27 yards as San Marcos rebounded from last week’s loss to Lompoc and improved to 2-1 on the season.
“He ran hard,” San Marcos coach Dare Holdren said of Clark, who along with four other running backs received outstanding blocking from the offensive line. “He gave the ball up a couple of times, but he came back and that’s the sign of a good player.”
Clark gave the Royals a 7-0 lead in the first quarter, capping an eight-play, 58-yard drive with a slashing 14-yard run. As a team, San Marcos accumulated 266 rushing yards on 45 carries.
“I thought the offense, when it needed to, stepped up and played hard,” said Holdren. The victory was San Marcos’ first away from Valley Stadium since it won at Santa Barbara’s Peabody Stadium on Oct. 20, 2006.
The Royals’ punishing ground game pounded away at Hueneme until the final whistle. Dylan Keefer came off the bench and gained 55 yards on nine carries in the fourth quarter. His hard running moved the ball down to the 1-yard line at the end of the game and he probably would have scored a touchdown, but San Marcos elected to kneel down as the clock ran out.
“In practice, we saw him run over one of our star linebackers, so we said, ‘Hey we’ve got to give that kid a chance to run the ball,” said Holdren. “It’s great to see these kids work so hard and we’re seeing the rewards.”
Hueneme (0-3) hung with the Royals for three quarters. The Vikings took advantage of a short San Marcos punt and got a 36-yard field goal from Joe Reynoso at 5:47 of the second quarter.
But the Royals would respond with a 59-yard drive, spearheaded by the running of Jordan Kuykendall (7 carries, 55 yards). He carried seven times for 40 yards, moving the ball to the 19, where the drive stalled.
Alvaro Garcia came on and booted a 35-yard field goal for a 10-3 lead with 1:22 left in the half. Garcia would deliver again before halftime after a juggling interception by Sean O’Donnell at the San Marcos 47.
With the aid of back-to-back pass interference penalties against Hueneme, the Royals got the ball down to the 8-yard line with eight seconds left on the clock. Garcia drilled a 25-yard field goal for a 13-3 halftime lead.
“I thought our defense was opportunistic,” said Holdren.
San Marcos held Hueneme to 127 total yards. The Royals scored their two fourth-quarter touchdowns after forcing turnovers. The Vikings did burn San Marcos for one big play in the third quarter. Allan Ewald got behind a defender and caught a 29-yard pass from quarterback Leonard Baker. Ewald bobbled the ball but managed to hold on to it for the score. The point-after kick was blocked by the Royals’ Parker Carroll, leaving the score 13-9.
“We gave up one big play, but we have a young cornerback and that’s going to happen sometimes,” said Holdren.
Hueneme now had the momentum.
The Vikings held San Marcos on downs and deflected the Royals’ punt, giving them good field position at the 41, but the San Marcos defense would restore order.
A big hit by Tim Wallis forced a fumble and later Carroll would intercept a pass.
On the first play after the interception, Clark burst through the line and rambled 34 yards for his second touchdown to give the Royals some breathing room at 20-9. Less than 20 seconds later, San Marcos forced another fumble and, on first down, Clark blew through the Vikings’ defense for a 27-yard touchdown run.
Holdren said he liked how his team stayed positive when Hueneme made the game close.
“I love the attitude on this team,” he said. “They never give up. We expect to win this year. That’s a great thing. It’s taken us a while to get there, but that’s the attitude we have.”
SAN MARCOS 27, HUENEME 9
San Marcos…7 6 0 14 — 27
Hueneme…0 3 6 0 — 9
First quarter
SM — Clark 14 run (Leon kick), 2:59
Second quarter
H — FG Reynoso 36, 5:47
SM — FG A. Garcia 35, 1:22
SM — FG A. Garcia 25, :00
Third quarter
H — Ewald 29 pass from Baker (kick blocked), 2:37
Fourth quarter
SM — Clark 34 run (Leon kick), 9:05
SM — Clark 27 run (Leon kick), 8:48
TEAM TOTALS SM H
First downs 14 7
Rushes-yards 45-266 28-73
Passing yards 5 54
Total yards 271 54
Passes 1-8-0 6-11-2
Fumbles-Lost 1-1 3-2
Penalties-yards 5-45 6-43
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING—SM: Clark 16-154, Keefer 7-55, Kuykendall 4-44, Bishop 1-2, Crook 4-11. H: Nixon 14-51,Baker 10-18, Ewald 3-5, Aguilera 1 (minus) 1.
PASSING—SM: Crook 1-8-0, 5 yards. H: 6-11-2, 54 yards
RECEIVING —SM: Day 1-5. H: Ewald 3-35, Moeslein 1-15, Garcia 1-5, Fabian 1 (minus) 3, Nixon 1-2.
