By Tony Solorzano
(Whittier) – Four first quarter touchdowns powered the Pacifica Mariners to a 41-8 victory over Whittier Thursday night at Whittier District Field.
It was another long night for head coach Walter Scott’s Cardinals (0-2) as the Mariners (2-0) dominated the first half of the game, literally keeping the Cardinals from getting past mid-field until the fourth quarter, when a blown snap on a punt nearly resulted in a safety.
In the first quarter, running back Cody Johnson capped a seven-play drive with 7:54 left in the quarter on a 20-yard run. However, on the point after, kicker Alex Gladden’s attempt bounced off the goalpost making the score 6-0. It was the only extra point he missed the entire night. Three minutes later, on their next possession quarterback Mario Nava connected on a route down the sidelines with Joel Willis for a 23-yard score. The play was an almost exact replay of the first play in this drive, where Nava and Willis connected for a 32-yard completion, putting the ball on the Whittier 20.
Trent Langham accounted for the next two scores on both offense and special teams. As the Cardinals were punting from their own 21, Langham blocked Ricardo Villanueva’s punt attempt, scooping up the loose ball and running it in with 3:42 left in the quarter. Less than two minutes later, Langham scored again, this time on a pass from 35-yards out with just under two minutes left in the quarter.
In the second, the Cardinal defense stopped another drive as Benny Suria picked off Nava at the three-yard line, preventing a sure touchdown. The interception seemed to fire up the Cardinal offense as Villanueva and Christopher Barclay moved the ball to mid-field. However, they could get no further and were forced to punt. On the ensuing possession, Pacifica was hit with a 15-yard penalty that pushed them back deep into their own territory, but Nava connected to Willis on third and 25 for a 37-yard completion deep in Cardinal territory. Johnson scored again, this time on a one-yard run.
In the third, the Cardinals saw the ball only once and once again failed to get past mid-field, while Villanueva added touchdown to his extra points, scoring from two yards out with 5:40 left in the quarter. With the score now 41-0, Mariner head coach Mercello Guiliano pulled his starters for the remainder of the game.
Whittier finally broke through mid-field in the final quarter, thanks to a turnover and a blown punt attempt by the Mariners. The blown punt, caused by a high snap, nearly turned into a safety as Gladden recovered the wayward ball just inside the end zone, but managed to run back to the 26-yard line, where the Cardinals took over. On their first and only play of that drive, Barclay took a handoff from quarterback Michael Viramontes and ran 26 yards for the touchdown. On the point after, Viramontes executed a perfect reverse handoff to Suria, who ran the ball in for the two-point conversion.
On the night, Nava was seven of 10 for 144 yards, with two touchdowns and an interception. Viramontes only connected three times out of nine attempts for only five yards. However, Barclay rushed 11 times for 89 yards and the touchdown.
Next week, the Cardinals host the City Section’s Roosevelt Rough Riders. The Riders lost a nail biter last year at home to the Cardinals, 28-21, and are looking to conclude their non-league schedule with a win before Eastern League play commences on October 1. The Mariners head home to Garden Grove for a seaside battle with the Garden Grove Argonauts.
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