Royalty reigned with the crowning of homecoming queen Katie Shara – team captain of the girls volleyball team — Friday night at San Marcos’ Valley Stadium.
But it was hardly a crowning moment for the Royals football team, as the visiting Oxnard Yellowjackets — sparked by an electrifying 99-yard return for a TD on the opening kickoff by Henry Fernandez — spoiled the coronation with a dominating 28-0 victory.
Royals head coach Jeff Hesselmeyer found “some bright spots” in a game played under a full moon, but otherwise was discouraged by his dysfunctional offense that couldn’t light up a malfunctioning scoreboard that stayed dark all night.
“We just can’t seem to put it together with the running and passing game,” said Hesselmeyer, whose club fell to 1-3.
“It was kind of a weird night with no scoreboard, no clock,” noted Oxnard head coach Mark Beckham.
But Beckham could count on a good score with offensive and defensive units both clicking for unbeaten Oxnard (4-0), led by Fernandez playing on both sides of the ball as strong safety and fullback in addition to returning kick-offs.
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“He’s a three-year varsity starter,” Beckham said of Fernandez, a 6-0, 205-pound senior. “He’s a great football player. But he’d be the first to tell you he couldn’t do it without his teammates.”
Fernandez got crisp blocking from teammates on the opening kickoff that cleared the way down the right sideline after he shook off a would-be tackler at the Oxnard 25-yard line.
“You can’t get off to a much better start than that,” said Beckham.
“We put ourselves in a hole right off the bat — that was tough,” said Hesselmeyer.
The hole only got deeper when Fernandez shedded another potential tackler on a 25-yard TD run midway through the second quarter that boosted the Yellowjackets’ lead to 21-0.
Fernandez wasn’t the Yellowjackets’ leading rusher, but he certainly was their most effective, coming two yards shy of Alex Gavin’s team-leading 98 yards on 14 less carries. Gavin was the offensive workhorse with 25 carries.
The Yellowjackets had 62 carries altogether, which is how you play ball control. Oxnard grounded out 240 yards rushing.
“We knew San Marcos likes to run the football, just like we like to run the football,” said Beckham. “San Marcos is a physical football team, and we knew we had to win in the trenches.”
Beckham credited his offensive line for giving Fernandez and Gavin plenty of running room, led by returning starters Raul Meza, Richie Sandoval, and Aldo Lopez.
Fernandez and Gavin made the most of what was given them, taking heart to Beckham’s instructions: “We tell our running backs, ‘Don’t let one guy tackle you.’ ”
Beckham also liked the play of his junior quarterback Billy Ceja, who completed 5-of-8 passes for 96 yards, including a 22-yarder for a touchdown to Tiai Salanoa for a 14-0 lead midway through the first quarter and a 33-yard strike to a wide open Javier Penaloza that set up Fernandez’ TD run.
Hesselmeyer was pleased by some of the things he saw in his team as well, particularly his linemen that played both ways — Jeff Ramirez, Taylor Gonzales, Tim Wallis, Daniel Leon, Vashawn Harvey and Louie Giroux.
“The offensive line did a pretty good job opening up some holes against a pretty good team,” said Hesselmeyer.
The line allowed Kyle Miller, returning to the lineup after missing last week’s game with a sprained clavicle, to grind out 59 yards on the ground on 12 carries. Dillon Keefer, who filled in for Miller as the starting tailback last week, managed 36 yards on 13 carries.
“We played much better defense in the second half –that was a good sign,” said Hesselmeyer, noting the turnovers caused by the defensive unit — an interception by Derrick Dallmeyer and a fumble recovery by Bennie Kirkwood.
Hesselmeyer was particularly pleased with the goalline stand the San Marcos defense put up in the second half that stalled a time-sapping 18-play Oxnard drive that reached the Royal 5. Nate Delgadillo’s sack of Ceja for a 5-yard loss ended the march.
But Hesselmeyer wants to see a little more balanced attack with more production in the passing game. Quarterback James Crook completed only 4 of 13 for 38 yards.
“We just need to play better,”said Hesselmeyer. “We’ve got another tough game next week (at Arroyo Grande). The goal is to win the game.”
Oxnard……………..14 7 7 0 — 28
San Marcos………. 0 0 0 0– 0
FIRST QUARTER
O– Fernandez 99 kickoff return (M.Gonzalez kick), 11:49.
O– Salanoa, 22 pass from Ceja (M.Gonzalez kick), 7:00.
SECOND QUARTER
O– Fernandez 25 run (M.Gonzalez kick), 8:50.
THIRD QUARTER
O– Martin Watson 5 run (M.Gonzalez kick), 9:50.
TEAM STATISTICS O SM
First Downs 19 12
Rushing Yds/Car 240/62 112/32
Passing Att-Comp-Int 5-8-1 5-17-0
Passing Yds 96 45
Total Yds 336 157
Fumbles-Lost 2-1 1-1
Penalties-Yds 5-35 4-40
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING— O: Gavin 25-98, Fernandez 11-96, Benson 6-33, Penaloza 1-7, Ceja 7-3, Martin Watson 2-3, Diaz 1- (-1). SM: Miller 12-59, Keefer 13-36, Cruz 4-13, Kim 2-5, Crook 1- (-1).
PASSING— O: Ceja 5-8-1-96. SM: Crook 4-13-0-38, Rivera 1-4-0-7.
RECEIVING— O: Salanoa 2-48, Penaloza 2-39, Fernandez 1-9. SM: Duran 1-16, Griffin 1-10, Gibson 1-8, Thayer 1-7, Kirkwood 1-4.
RECORDS— O 4-0, SM 1-3.
Thanks for the coverage. Thanks for coming to the game, we appreciate the support.
Thanks for the coverage. Thanks for coming to the game, we appreciate the support.
Thanks for the coverage. Thanks for coming to the game, we appreciate the support.