San Marcos High bolted to a 14-0 lead before Beverly Hills ran a play on Thursday night and the unbeaten Royals went on to post a 49-14 football victory at Warkentin Stadium.
It was the first home triumph for second-year coach Anthony Linebaugh.
“We want this to be a home-field advantage,” said Linebaugh. “I’m very pleased with the boys. We talked about getting off to a fast start. We wanted to keep things rolling.
“We still have a lot of things to work on for next week. This is a hungry team. It’s been dire straits here the last few years. The only thing that’s the same as last year is the jerseys that they’re wearing.
“For our seniors, this was their last home opener. That’s a lot of firsts and they had a chance to enjoy it tonight.”
Senior captain Esteban Alfaro ran 16 times for 132 yards and three TDs of 22, 1 and 35 yards. Quarterback Wesley Ghan-Gibson completed 9-of-10 passes for 167 yards and three more scores as the Royals improved to 3-0.
“Hey, he’s the horse and the guy is consistent,” said Linebaugh of Alfaro. “He’s a team-first guy and he’s happy for other guys going in. He’s not a me-first guy, he’s a great captain. We’re very happy to have him as one of our leaders.”
San Marcos built a 42-6 halftime lead, thanks to a 15-1 domination in first downs and a 299-55 advantage in total yards. The 42 points are one of the highest first-half totals in school history.
The Royals marched 61 yards in three plays on their first possession, capped by a 50-yard hookup from Ghan-Gibson to Pugh on a crossing route for the first touchdown. Nathan Coffey booted the first of his seven PATs.
Beverly Hills (0-2) fumbled the ensuing kickoff and Kelston DeJesus recovered for the Royals at the Normans’ 17. After a false-start penalty, Alfaro scored on a 22-yard scamper to make it 14-0.
After a 15-yard punt by Beverly Hills set the Royals up at the Norman 29, they needed just one play to score. Ghan-Gibson connected with Austin Pugh on a 29-yard TD that extended the lead to 21-0 less than five minute into the non-league contest.
“It went well, my line really protected me and my receivers got open,” said Ghan-Gibson, a 6-3 senior. “We got on them early and that helped.”
Pugh caught three passes for 94 yards and two touchdowns.
The Royals made it 28-0 with 3:15 to go in the first quarter after a six-play, 49-yard march capped by a 1-yard plunge by Lucas Lamoutte.
The Normans got on the board with a 44-yard pass from Zack Bialobos to Eli Sachs, followed by a 1-yard TD run by Sebastian Torres, who finished with 110 yards on 19 carries.
San Marcos put together its longest drive of the night — 82 yards in 11 plays — capped by a 1-yard run from Alfaro that stretched the lead to 42-6 with 8.2 seconds left in the opening half.
San Marcos held the visitors to one yard rushing on eight tries in the first half while racking up 139 on 25 attempts. For the game, the Royals enjoyed a 22-8 advantage in first downs and won the yardage battle, 426-191.
The Royals scored their final TD on their first possession of the second half as they drove 80 yards in eight plays. Alfaro provided the icing on the cake with a 35-yard run on an inside reverse that extended the lead to 49-6.
There was a running clock on all plays in the fourth quarter, which is a CIF rule when a team is ahead by 35 points.
The Royals travel to Hueneme on Friday at 7 p.m.
Beverly Hills …..…… 0 6 0 8 — 14
San Marcos ………… 28 14 7 0 — 49
First Quarter
SM — Pugh 50 pass from Ghan-Gibson (Coffey kick), 10:53
SM — Alfaro 22 run (Coffey kick), 10:28
SM — Pugh 29 pass from Ghan-Gibson (Coffey kick), 7:38
SM — Lamoutte 1 run (Coffey kick), 3:15
Second Quarter
BH — Torres 1 run (kick failed), 10:35
SM — Cortez 12 pass from Ghan-Gibson (Coffey kick), 6:57
SM — Alfaro 1 run (Coffey kick), 0:08
Third Quarter
SM — Alfaro 35 run (Coffey kick), 5:55
Fourth Quarter
BH — Ysaquirre 5 pass from Bialobos (Brown run), 1:30
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING–BH: Torres 19-110, Bialobos 6-(minus 12). SM: Alfaro 16-132, Lamoutte 5-37, Reyes 6-36, Cortez 6-28, Diep 6-28, Ghan-Gibson 2-14, Pugh 1-(minus 2), Team 1-(minus 14).
PASSING–BH: Bialobos 7-14-0-93. SM: Ghan-Gibson 9-10-0-167.
RECEIVING–BH: Sachs 2-69, Johnson 2-4, Nwanko 1-9, Kwon 1-6, Ysaquirre 1-5. SM: Pugh 3-94, Estrada 2-38, Esteban 2-12, Cortez 1-12, Lamoutte 1-11 .
MISSED FIELD GOALS–None.
