San Marcos football shined on both sides of the ball en route to a 44-6 Senior Night rout of Hueneme on Friday at Warkentin Stadium.
The Royals (4-4, 2-1 Tri-County League) have now won two straight league games with two remaining on the schedule, beginning with a road matchup with Royal High next week.
“This one was extremely important in regard to [making] the playoffs,” San Marcos head coach Isaiah Veal said. “We want to contend for a league title. So, we knew that we had to get in the win column, go 2-1 in league, and then we have a chance to, hopefully, do something special for the rest of league play.”
The Royals also celebrated their 17-player senior class in a pregame ceremony to kick off the night.
“They’ve made my job a lot easier. When you have a senior class who is this skilled, this talented, and this willing to be coached, it’s huge,” Veal, who is in his first season as the head coach, said.
“They’ve made this the greatest year of my life, and I’m just happy to have these guys, and I’m happy to keep coaching them… They’re all great players and great kids at the end of the day.”
Hueneme turned in a solid drive to open the game, but found itself with a fourth and five from the SM 35-yard line. The Royals’ defense stood tall on fourth down, with sophomore Griffin Cooney deflecting the pass at the line for the turnover on downs.
San Marcos carried that momentum over to the offensive side of the ball, with senior running back Tommy Diaz leading the charge down the field and scoring on a 6-yard rush to take a 7-0 lead with 3:56 left in the first.
The two teams then exchanged stalled drives as the game flipped over to the second, with Hueneme putting together the first strong drive of the quarter inside the SM 30-yard line.
The Royals’ defense then came through with its second big play of the night, forcing a fumble that was recovered by freshman Joseph Nealon, who took off down the sideline for a 70-yard return touchdown to send the crowd into a frenzy.
The extra point by senior Austin Downing gave San Marcos a 14-0 lead with 5:32 left in the half.
On the first play of the ensuing drive, Nealon came up with a big play once again for the SM defense with an interception he returned down to the 2-yard line.
“Joe had a breakout game. He has never played football in his life before and he decided to try out this year… The dude is a stud, and we’re so excited for his future,” Veal said of his freshman.
After a false start, the Royals punched in the score with a 5-yard pass from senior quarterback Hayden Feleay to senior wideout Isaac Murillo. The duo connected on the two-point conversion for a 22-0 lead with 3:21 on the clock.
San Marcos then forced another punt to get one more shot at points before the break, beginning the drive at its own 6-yard line with 1:41 on the clock.
Two plays into the drive, Feleay hit a crossing Murillo, who burst free for a 61-yard catch-and-run down to the Hueneme 33-yard line.
After an incompletion and a false start, Feleay scrambled to his right and launched a pass behind the defense to Murillo, who came down with an acrobatic catch and dove towards the end zone for a 38-yard touchdown.
“Hayden and Isaac have a great connection,” Veal said. “Isaac is an insane player, especially for his size and his speed. He’s a game changer. Hayden had a great game.”
The senior offensive trio of Feleay, Murillo and Diaz powered the offensive attack. Feleay completed 10-of-17 passes for 189 yards and three touchdowns, Murillo hauled in three catches for 104 yards and two touchdowns, and Diaz totaled 92 yards of offense and scored a touchdown.
The Royals got the two-point conversion on a trick play that saw sophomore Caden LaPlante scurry into the endzone for a 30-0 lead, which held into halftime.
San Marcos went three-and-out on the first possession of the second half but the defense stayed hot and picked up the slack, with Murillo making yet another big play.
The senior jumped in front of a pass to the flat on the first play of the drive, bringing in the interception and taking it back 45 yards for a pick-six and a 37-0 lead.
“I feel like our defense does a great job at being gap sound. When we play together and we stop to run, our dudes can make plays,” Veal said. “We have a lot of guys who made plays out there, so tonight it was just doing your job and letting the plays come to you.”
Hueneme responded with its first scoring drive of the night, thanks in part to a pair of San Marcos 15-yard penalties. Carlos Flores hauled in a 12-yard touchdown pass, and the two-point conversion failed to cut the SM lead to 37-6 with 5:35 left in the third.
The Royals got those points back on the ensuing drive, marching right down the field and scoring on an 11-yard touchdown pass from Feleay to LaPlante, who elevated over his defender and came down with the catch for a 44-6 lead in the final minutes of the third.
That score held throughout a fourth quarter in which the clock was running, but not before San Marcos senior Kevan Vatan recovered a fumble and fellow senior Anthony Herrera came down with an interception to end Senior Night in style.
While San Marcos will be on the road against Royal next week, Hueneme (1-7, 0-3) will take on Santa Paula on the road.
