After six games, things are starting to come together for the San Marcos football team.
It showed on homecoming night on Friday as the Royals got two rushing touchdowns from Cole Dominguez, a passing TD from quarterback Hayden Feleay and an interception return for a score by Logan Patterson in a 25-0 win over Santa Paula in a Tri-County League game at Warkentin Stadium.
The San Marcos defense turned in a stellar effort, shutting down a Santa Paula offense that relies heavily on the run.
“I’m starting to see it,” said a pleased San Marcos coach Ralph Molina of the team’s understanding of the defensive schemes. “Now they’re figuring things out, they’re buying into it. It’s taken awhile but I had to replace almost the whole defense (from last season); lot of guys played JV ball last year. But now they’re starting to figure it out. I saw it in practice and I felt good going into tonight.”
Defensive end Logan Hale led the defensive charge for the Royals. He made several stops on Santa Paula’s physical running backs Sebastian Alcantar and Ryan Luna.
“We’re just working a lot to hold them at the line,” said Hale of the game plan. “We put a lot of pressure on the running backs and made sure we squeezed in on them a lot and get as many guys to the ball every time.”
Hale said his role was to “get across the line and to the ball as fast as possible. The tackle on my side was pulling a lot, so I’m just trying to chase him down the line and get the ball as fast as as I can.”
“They just followed the pull guys and blew things up,” said Molina.
Dominguez, who also plays at linebacker, turned in the biggest hit of the night as he took down the 220-pound Alcantar like a wrestler putting an opponent on his back for a pin. Dominguez is an elite high school wrestler for San Marcos.
“Was that something?” Molina marveled of the hit. “He’s just a gutsy kid. He’s a heck of a ballplayer.”
The Royals’ defense also intercepted two passes in posting their first league win. Isaac Murillo had a pick late in the first half and Patterson hauled in an overthrown ball and returned it 58-yards for the final score with 6:50 left in the game.
“I just saw the quarterback roll out and the ball went over the offensive player’s hands. I got excited and I just saw the end zone,” said Patterson of the first interception in his brief football career. He came out for football as a senior after running cross country in the fall. He’s also a standout on the track team as a quartermiler and a hurdler, so he knew what to do when his saw open field after the interception.
“It feels great. This is my first year of football and (the pick-6) is like the only thing I’ve been wanting the entire season,” he said.
On a breezy night, the San Marcos offense capitalized on an 8-yard punt into the wind by Santa Paula and a penalty on its first possession.
Dominguez, patiently following his blockers, broke off a 40-yard run for a touchdown at 6:30 of the first quarter. The PAT kick failed.
Dominguez rushed for 130 yards on 24 carries and also caught four passes for 32 yards.
San Marcos missed a 46-yard field goal attempt, but the defense forced the Cardinals into a three and out and quarterback Hayden Feleay guided the Royals on a short TD drive after a 44-yard punt return by Murillo to the 19.
On third-and-goal, Feleay fired a pass over the middle to Murillo for the score at 3:06 of the second quarter. A two-point conversion run came up shot, leaving the score 12-0.
Feleay played a solid game. He completed 8 of 11 passes for 87 yards and a score.
“A couple times I was worried, but he came up and made some good plays,” said Molina. “He threw the ball well in the flat and threw the one across the middle for a nice touchdown pass. And that’s what he’s got to do. He’s just got to trust the system, and he did a much better job.”
Feleay completed passes to Murillo and Dominguez on the drive for the Royals’ third touchdown. Dominguez ran behind the right side of the line for a 1-yard score. TJ Deakyne kicked the PAT for a 19-0 advantage.
Patterson’s pick-6 capped the scoring.
Hale was happy with the team’s performance and getting a shutout on homecoming night.
“It feels really great, especially since it’s league. We feel like we accomplished something, We’re good.”
Molina was pleased to see the team get back on the winning side after five straight losses.
“This is a good win for us. We needed this because I told them, ‘Hey, you win three of the last four you get an automatic spot in the playoffs.’ So there’s a lot to play for,” he said.
The Royals (1-1, 2-5 overall) play at Hueneme next Friday.