Dos Pueblos quarterback Barrett Burnes hands off to Blake Erwin before Erwin’s 41-yard pass completion.
It was just a few plays. But it was enough.
Dos Pueblos ran more plays and out gained Pacifica on Friday night, but Tritons receiver Deondre Vines hauled in two touchdowns – the first a 76-yarder and another for 49 yards – as Pacifica benefitted from the big plays in a 20-14 defeat of Dos Pueblos in the season opener for both teams.
Vines amassed 172 yards on just four catches and his 41-yard punt return in the third quarter set up Pacifica’s final TD.
“He’s a big-time player,” said Tritons head coach Mike Moon, whose team scored 20 unanswered points in the second and third quarters.
Alfonso Ponce de Leon’s 30-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter gave the Chargers momentum they lacked since the first quarter. Two more possessions in the final quarter came up empty.
“I’m super proud of the way the guys finished the game,” Mendoza said. “We’re down 20-7 and they could have tanked it easy.”
The game was tied 7-7 at halftime but the Tritons took a 20-7 lead with two TDs in the third period. Salas scored on a quarterback keeper for Pacifica’s third score.
DP’s Angel Davison rushed 10 times for 90 yards, including a 55-yard gain on the Chargers’ first offensive snap.
Pacifica was close to making it a two-score game again but Dos Pueblos was able to block a field goal and regain possession. Starting at their own 20-yard line, the Chargers marched into Triton territory but the drive stalled on Pacifica’s 38-yard line with 2:57 in the game.
The Chargers defense gave their offense once last chance by stopping Pacifica in quick order, getting the ball back with 1:31 to work with.
But the Tritons defense held steady again, producing several coverage sacks on the final plays as the Chargers tried to look downfield.
“We’re real positive right now. We’re happy,” Mendoza said. “We have to clean stuff up on offense; (quarterback Barrett Burnes) knows it. We have to get rid of the ball quicker. Our offensive line has to (pass) block better, and we’re going to work on it.”
It seemed every time Vines touched the ball good things happened for the Tritons.
“It feels great,” Vines said. “I always try to come out and play my hardest. We got a few touchdowns and I even got a few runs in.”
Barrett Burnes moves to avoid Pacifica’s pass rush, which produced eight sacks.
Quarterback Adan Salas found Vines on a pair of fade patterns down the right sideline. The first came on 3rd-and-10 less than two minutes before halftime. It was only the third completion of the first half for Pacifica.
“We weren’t clicking too good with our wideouts – we have some greats wideouts, but we’ll figure it out offensively,” Moon said. “I think defensively we played lights out tonight and that kind of saved us.”
DP scored first on a 25-yard throw from Barrett Burnes to Josh Flora in the first quarter. Another big gain came on a handoff to Blake Erwin who then tossed a 41-yard completion to Flora, who led the Chargers in receiving with 66 yards.
Mendoza gave four players – Manny Nwosu, Angel Davison, Ponce de Leon, Malik Harris – multiple carries. Davison led the team with 90 yards rushing on 10 carries.
Dos Pueblos travels to Cabrillo in Week 2.
Pacifica will travel Reseda next week.
PACIFICA 20, DOS PUEBLOS 14
Pacifica 0 7 13 0 – 20
Dos Pueblos 7 0 0 7 – 14FIRST QUARTER
DP – Burnes 25-yard pass to Flora (PAT good)SECOND QUARTER
P – Salas 76-yard pass to Vines (PAT good)THIRD QUARTER
P – Salas 49-yard pass to Vines (PAT good)
P – Salas 2-yard run (PAT failed)FOURTH QUARTER
DP – Ponce de Leon 30-yard run (PAT good)TEAM TOTALS P DP
First downs 8 14
Rushes-Yards 22-91 32-194
Passing 205 145
Comp-Att-Int 9-17-0 9-16-0
Punts 1 4
Fumbles-Lost 1-0 0-0
Penalties-Yards 2 – 20 10 – 70INDIVIDUAL STATS
Rushing — Pacifica – Neri 15-58, Salas 5-18, Davis 2-15. DP – Davison 10-90, Ponce de Leon 10-48, Burnes 6-29, Nwosu 4-17, Harris 2-11.
Passing — Pacifica – Salas 9-17-0-205, DP – Burnes 8-15-0-102, Erwin 1-1-0-41
Receiving— Pacifica – Vines 4-172, Moraga 3-22, Davis 1-15, Neri 1-1. DP – Flora 2-66, Ponce de Leon 3-38, Kanen 2-25, Royce 1-12, Harris 1-2.Records: Pacifica 1-0, 0-0; Dos Pueblos 1-0, 0-0
