San Marcos football team struggled to stop Fillmore’s potent offense and suffered a 51-15 loss at Warkentin Stadium on Friday night to begin Tri-County League play.
With the loss, San Marcos falls to 2-4 on the season and an 0-1 start to league play. Fillmore has now won its fourth consecutive match, improving to 4-2 on the year with a 1-0 Tri-County League record.
It was mostly a homecoming night to forget for the Royals, as the team amassed just 190 total yards of offense compared to the nearly 500-yard night for the Flashes.
Fillmore scored on nearly every offensive drive, including a touchdown on its first four drives of the game.
“Fillmore had a great game plan. They’re a very well-coached team and a great program,” San Marcos head coach Isaiah Veal said. “Football is a beautiful game; it teaches you more than just football, but life lessons like you get knocked down, maybe embarrassed at home, and how are we going to respond?
“Our belief is still 100% that we can do a lot of big things in this league. That is our goal.”
San Marcos began the contest with a three-and-out, and Fillmore followed it up with a methodical 12-play, 73-yard drive that drained more than seven minutes off the clock and was capped with a 21-yard touchdown pass from senior quarterback Nate Perez to senior wide receiver Saul Fraga-Sandoval.
After another three-and-out from the Royals, the Flashes were much quicker to score on the next drive, as senior running back Micah Harm scored from 48 yards out to put his team up 14-0.
The Flashes had one more trick up their sleeve before the end of the first quarter, however, as Filmore’s junior corner JJ Jasso intercepted San Marcos’ Hayden Feleay and returned it 40 yards to give his team a 20-0 lead after a missed extra point.
The Royals responded on the next drive, however, as Feleay hooked up with sophomore wide receiver Krew Gray for a 23-yard connection on third down and then found him again two plays later on a slant that Gray took 44 yards to the house.
Veal said Friday was the first time they really “unleashed” Gray. He finished the night with three catches for 75 yards.
“That was great to see. He works so hard every day at practice. He’s kind of the guy that doesn’t have an off switch,” Veal said. “Being able to get him going and get comfortable and make plays out there is just really great to see, and I think he’ll be a big asset going forward in league.”
Unfortunately for the Royals, their defense was unable to stop Fillmore’s ability to make big plays.
On the ensuing drive, Perez connected with senior wideout Andrew Estrada for a 65-yard touchdown. On the next drive, he threw a 19-yard touchdown to his senior tight endMatthew Zavala to give his team a 34-7 halftime lead.
The Flashes started the second half the way they left it off, as Estrada took a run 80 yards to the house on the first play to put the visitors up 41-7. Perez threw one more touchdown, again finding Fraga-Sandoval, this time from 4 yards out, before resting the rest of the night with Fillmore leading 48-7 in the third.
Perez finished with four touchdown passes and 222 yards on 16-for-21 passing. Fraga-Sandoval caught four passes for 61 yards and two touchdowns. Estrada caught three passes for 79 yards and one touchdown, while adding 89 yards on four rushes and another touchdown.
“I think we have to do a better job as a staff and just as a team preparing. It is what it is; they made some big plays. They had some great players on that side of the football, but we’ll be back better,” Veal said.
Trailing 51-7 late in the fourth, Feleay connected with senior wideout Isaac Murillo for a 24-yard score, and the Royals punched in a two-point conversion via a Tommy Diaz inside run to make the final score of 51-15.
Murrilo finished with four catches for 49 yards and a score. Feleay threw for 148 yards and two touchdowns, completing eight passes and adding another 32 yards on the ground.
“We have to understand and know that no game is going to be easy. This is league, and league is very competitive. Teams are at the same level, so no game is going to be easy. There’s no easy road ahead, especially in our situation,” Veal said.
“We’ve got to come back and put on a good game against Santa Paula.”