An optimist could easily find a silver lining in the dark cloud that continued to hang over San Marcos High’s football team after Friday night’s 38-20 Channel League loss to Ventura at Valley Stadium.
Okay, so maybe it was more like copper. But have you seen the price of copper, lately? The point is, the Royals’ offense came to life against Ventura, scoring on its first two possessions and completing its first two touchdown passes as it traded scores with the Cougars for the better part of three quarters.
For a team that is 1-6 and had scored only 31 points all year, but which still has designs on winning the City Championship, it was like discovering a gold in an abandoned mine.
“We finally showed how our offense can move the ball down the field,” said running back Kyle Miller, who popped a 43-yard touchdown run and another run of 37 yards as part of a 139-yard effort. “Our passing game got two TDs – that’s awesome. We know now we can put on the board.”
Ventura (4-3 overall, 2-0 in league) already knew it could depend on quarterback Keihan Gibbs for some firepower and he did not disappoint. The 6-foot-3, 205-pound junior passed for 181 yards and two scores, while running for another 60 yards. Both scores went to Kaybrum Evans, who finished with eight catches and 98 yards. Running back C.J. Souter added a 51-yard touchdown and 91 yards overall.
But the Cougars needed two big plays in the kicking game and a late interception and touchdown return by James Duran to overcome the suddenly potent Royals’ offense.
Souter’s TD-run put the Cougars ahead to stay at 24-20 late in the third quarter. A roughing-the-kicker penalty led to a 22-yard TD-pass from Gibbs to Evans early in the fourth quarter before Duran jumped the route on a James Crook pass for a 46-yard score. In the first half, Tre Coleman of the Cougars blocked a punt and Isaac Arichibeque picked the ball up for a score.
“I’m not surprised at how San Marcos played,” said Ventura coach Brad Steward. “I was impressed with how they battled in every game I watched on tape. It was good to see us answer in the second half because that game could have gone either way.”
San Marcos got on the board with a 76-yard drive on its first possession, finished off by Miller’s 43-yard touchdown. Erik Gutierrez added the PAT.
Ventura tied the score on a 16-yard pass from Gibbs to Evans but the Royals responded immediately when Miller shot through a gap in the middle for a 37-yard gain and Crook followed with his first TD pass of the year, an 11-yard strike to Trevor Gibson.
The blocked punt and score by Arichibeque left the game tied at halftime and Ventura capitalized on several short pass completions by Gibbs to take a 17-14 lead on a 20-yard field goal by Ben Mann with 6:32 remaining in the third period. Two blocked passes by Royals end Bennie Kirkwood helped to keep the Cougars out of the end zone.
San Marcos responded to the field goal with an 85-yard drive started by a 46-yard end around by Justin Duran and finished with an perfectly placed pass and an elegant over-the-shoulder catch by Anthony Patolo for a 36-yard score. The PAT kick after Patolo’s score was missed, a sign perhaps that the Royals’ luck was running out.
Souter’s TD run put the Cougars back in front but San Marcos held firm on Ventura’s next drive and looked to have good field position before a roughing-the-kicker penalty on a play where contact was not sufficient to upend the punter. Minimal or not, it was enough to draw a flag and erase a 4th-and-16 and Gibbs completed three straight passes after that to get the Cougars into the end zone a 22-yard pass to Evans.
A diving interception by Garrett Polizzi that thwarted a Ventura scoring opportunity in the first half was another highlight for the Royals.
“We showed a lot of improvement tonight,” said Royals coach Jeff Hesselmeyer. “We played hard and that was good. But we need to eliminate the mistakes.”
VENTURA 38, SAN MARCOS 20
Ventura…7 7 10 14 — 38
San Marcos…14 0 6 0 — 20
First quarter
SM — Miller 43 run (Gutierrez kick( 7:03.
V — Evans 16 pass from Gibbs (Mann kick) 3:38.
SM — Gibson 11 pass from Crook (Gutierrez kick) :43.
Second quarter
V — Arichibeque 1 return of blocked punt (Mann kick) 2:32.
Third quarter
V — FG Mann 20, 6:32.
SM — Patolo 36 pass from Crook (kick failed) 4:15.
V — Souter 51 run (Mann kick) 2:46.
Fourth quarter
V — Evans 22 pass from Gibbs (Mann kick) 10:48.
V — Duran 46 interception return (Mann kick) 9:15.
TEAM TOTALS V SM
First Downs…24, 12
Rushes-yards…26-190, 35-228
Passing yards…181, 95
Total yards…371, 323
Passes…18-31-1, 5-18-1
Fumbles-lost…2-1, 1-1
Punts-Avg…4-36, 8-33
Penalties…5-50, 9-56
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing: V: Souter 9-51, Gibbs 11-60, Harper 4-30, Gallindo 2-9. SM: Miller 22-139, Keefer 11-44, Duran 1-46, Crook 1-minus-1.
Passing: V: Gibbs 18-30-1-181; Souter 0-1-0-0. SM: Crook 5-17-1-95; Rivera 0-1-0-0.
Receiving: V: Evans 8-98, Mendoza 7-66, Souter 2-27, Gibbs 1-minus-10. SM: Gibson 2-25, Kirkwood 1-21, Miller 1-13, Patolo 1-36.
Missed FG: None.
Refs have made some interesting calls in the last two games…or non calls against St. Boni…
Refs have made some interesting calls in the last two games…or non calls against St. Boni…