San Marcos ran into a first-half scoring onslaught from visiting Buena in a Pacific View League game Friday night, eventually losing to the Bulldogs 52-26.
Buena got on the scoreboard early with the opening drive, culminating with a 13-yard scoring run from Brandon Rice with two minutes gone in the game.
The Royals got on the board with 20 points in the first half, but Buena more than countered, and the Bulldogs led 44-20 at halftime.
The second half was more sedate as turnovers stalled drives by both teams.
The Royals opened the half with a kickoff return by Luis Mayo to the San Marcos 45, further aided by a Buena personal foul that put the ball on the Buena 40. The subsequent drive powered by Royals running back Andre McCullough made it to the 24 yard line before an interception turned the ball to Buena.
Buena marched the ball downfield and scored on a 1-yard touchdown run by Jake Murphy. A two-point conversion widened the lead to 52-20 with 4:01 left in the third quarter.
To open the fourth quarter, the teams went back-and-forth three times on fumble turnovers within a few plays, two by Buena and one by San Marcos.
After the last of those was recovered by the Royals, McCullough again took charge, running the ball six times for 51 yards, culminating in a 1-yard sweep run for the game’s final touchdown with 3:33 left in the game. After the conversion failed, Buena had a 52-26 win.
San Marcos falls to 1-2 in Pacific View League play, and 3-5 oerall.
Buena is 3-0 in league play and 5-3 overall.