Both the Mt. Carmel Sundevils and the San Marcos Knights entered Friday night’smatchup with a 5-1 record, a 1-0 league record, and, for the time being, a share of first place inthe Palomar League standings.
A win for either team would not only keep them perfect in Palomar League play but alsocreate some separation from themselves and the rest of the pack.
Ultimately, San Marcos would come away with a statement win as they dominated theSundevils by the final of 38-0
“That’s a football team over there that is used to winning this season. They were 5-1 andhad a comeback of three-plus touchdowns in a game this season, so we knew we had to playhard till the last whistle,” said San Marcos coach Tom Carroll. “I’m proud of our kids; they had a great week of practice, and I’m proud of the effort they gave tonight.”
The San Marcos offense found its rhythm early in the first half. Following an openingseries three and out, they responded by piecing together four straight scoring drives to end thehalf.
Knights quarterback Kreet Makihele did an excellent job of simply taking what the Mt.Carmel defense was giving him. In the first half, Mt. Carmel’s defense came out showing deepcover-two looks to take away the deep ball.
As such, he and his weapons of CJ Williams, Brady Pohl, and Elijah Bechtel foundsuccess attacking short and underneath. That attack eventually led to two rushing touchdowns,one by Pohl and the other by Williams.
The Sundevils would eventually have to creep their safeties down, and the Knights would takeadvantage as Makihele hit Jase Nix over the top for a 22-yard TD that gave San Marcos a 28-0 lead at the midway point.
“Their defensive coordinator showed a lot of different looks, which can cause a lot ofstress for an offense. They did it early on, but we did not get rattled,” noted Carroll. “Our leaderis our QB, and we follow his lead. He stayed poised after some early sacks and got us rolling.”
The Sundevils never found an opportunity to creep back into things against SanMarcos, largely due to the play of the Knights defense but also because of their inability to find arhythm.
Mt. Carmel attempted to utilize the short ing, and screen game, to beat a Knightsdefense that consistently sent five or six men. But a handful of point-blank drops, and the play ofSan Marcos’ front seven, never allowed that gameplay to pay off.
The Knights defense would tally six sacks on the night, with Luke Freeling and TySagaser each tallying 1.5 sacks. It would also be an opportunistic group, as Koaia Sonogniniwould record the defensive highlight of the night with a one-handed INT on an attemptedscreen, killing Mt. Carmel’s most encouraging drive on the night.
“Our defensive front is an area where we thought we had an advantage. We play fast upthere.” Commented Carroll, “Mt. Carmel is also a very good screen football team, and I thought
our kids did a great job of exciting our gameplay there. They tackled well in the open field.Thought our defense was great tonight.”
Scoring Summary
San Marcos 38, Mt. Carmel 0Mt. Carmel 0 0 0 0 0San Marcos 14 14 7 3 38SM: C. Williams 1 rush (C. Hackett Kick )SM: T. Sagaser 6 from K. Makihele (C. Hackett Kick )SM: B. Pohl 1 run (C. Hackett Kick )SM: J. Nix 22 from K. Makihele (C. Hackett Kick )SM: C. Reese 23 run (C. Hackett Kick )SM: 33-Yard Field Goal C. Hackett
