After flinging countless passes at him all summer, San Marcos High quarterback Ben Partee knew he had a special connection with wide receiver Josh Brown.
After watching them work their magic Friday night, Santa Paula knows the same thing.
Partee found Brown for 175 yards and three touchdowns on nine catches in the first half as the Royals jumped to a 36-0 lead before winning 36-14 in their season opener at Warkentin Stadium.
“We put in a bunch of work this summer and really got our timing down,” said Partee, who finished the night 17-of-25 for 276 yards, while Brown totaled 195 yards on 11 catches.
Santa Paula coach Mike Montoya, a former Santa Barbara High receiver who knows a thing or two about pitch-and-catch chemistry, was impressed.
“We were a bit surprised by how much they threw the ball at first,” he said. “They’ve improved a lot. They hit us hard at the start and we never quite recovered.”
Brown scored on passes of 61, 33 and 38 yards. Since most of his catches were short jabs, his 61-yard knockout punch found him clear of the defense by 10 yards as he caught the pass without breaking stride. His other two scores were more closely contested, but identical for their timing and execution, including the 38-yarder caught with a mere one second left in the half.
“We had trips left, and I audibled some BS about going right, but I knew I was going (to Brown) all the way,” said Partee. “That was fun.”
As much as the night belonged to Partee and Brown, however, it was a more methodical San Marcos that took control of the game at the outset. The Royals marched 69 yards for a score on their opening possession, churning out four first downs on a series of short thrusts until Henry Herrera cut around Partee following a faked throw, took the handoff and scooted 28 yards for a touchdown. Duncan Jayden’s PAT kick made it 7-0 with less than three minutes played.
Santa Paula started its first drive at its 13 and saw a quick three-and-out turn into three-and-disaster when a bad snap on a punt attempt resulted in a safety. San Marcos took the ensuing free kick and Partee found Brown all alone on the very next play.
Fearing the game was quickly slipping away, Santa Paula went for a first down on 4th-and-2 from its own 43 and got stuffed by several Royals at the line of scrimmage. A few plays later, Herrera emerged from the backfield for a soft toss from Partee and followed his blockers for 30 yards to the 1. Three plays later, he scored from there.
Herrera finished with 82 yards on 20 carries, most of them in the second half, and added another 54 yards receiving.
“I think Henry’s going to be a real sleeper this year,” said Partee. “He’s really worked hard.”
Santa Paula attempted another fourth down conversion from its own 43 on its next possession, but Bryan Espinosa tracked down Cardinal quarterback Hector Zuniga and sacked him to give the Royals the ball at the 33. Partee hit Brown for a touchdown on the next play. The PAT attempt was bungled, about the only thing that didn’t go right for the Royals in the first half.
“They came out big and really grabbed the momentum,” said Montoya. “Our hats off to them. They played a good game and it’s got to be a lesson for us.”
San Marcos coach Jason Fowle was understandably pleased with the Royals’ start, but not as happy with his team’s less than inspired second half. Though game script and substitutions certainly muted San Marcos’ urgency on offense, Fowle has made it a priority for his team to finish strong in games after seeing numerous first-half leads vanish in the night air last season.
“We need to finish as a team” he said. “We played a great first half and I’m proud of the guys. But we had a lack of execution in the second half and we definitely have some things to clean up.”
Santa Paula certainly gave the Royals something to think about in the second half as Zuniga filled the air with passes and completed more than a fair share. After completing only 6-of-14 passes for 62 yards, he went 8-of-23 for 199 yards in the second half. Cristian Marcellano got the Cardinals on the board with a 1-yard run with 8:19 left in the first quarter and Victor Duran grabbed a 21-yard scoring pass from Zuniga with 2:17 remaining in the game.