San Juan Hills coach Robert Frith knelt and draped his arm round his quarterback Timmy Herr within the minutes earlier than kickoff in San Juan Capistrano.
The coach and signal-caller prayed — as they do earlier than each sport, basking within the calm earlier than the storm. “It clears my body,” Herr stated. “No nerves.”
For Mira Costa, the moments of its opposition’s pregame quiet had been the one peace it might witness from the Stallions on Friday evening. San Juan Hills (4-1) obtained the lead early and didn’t look again, handing Mira Costa (3-1) its first loss, 28-7. Linebacker Weston Port’s first-quarter, muffed-snap fumble restoration, and Mira Costa’s unintended self-downed punt in its pink zone, had been simply two mishaps resulting in Stallion scores.
“There’s a couple of times where we were in really good [field] position,” Frith stated. “Our defense is stingy enough that offensively, we’re going to be opportunistic. … Our defense sets the tone and then the offense goes from there.”
Herr, a junior, tossed for 160 yards on 14-of-16 passing and completed with 42 speeding yards, tallying two touchdowns within the air and one on the bottom. Within the second quarter, after penalties drove San Juan Hills from the 14-yard line to the 40, Herr linked with senior huge receiver Jake Vuoso for a landing to leap out to a 21-0 halftime lead.
San Juan Hills quarterback Timmy Herr accomplished 14 of 16 passes for 160 yards in Friday’s win over Mira Costa.
(Benjamin Royer / For The Instances)
With a then-three-score lead, the Stallions drained the clock with a ground-and-pound-centric strategy. Herr later strolled into the tip zone for a six-yard landing run to bump San Juan Hills’ benefit to twenty-eight midway into the third quarter.
“It’s good to be balanced, and Timmy did a good job tonight putting the ball on hands with plenty of time,” Frith stated. “When we line up, we could have three running backs in the backfield. Just one of them does a really good job throwing the football too.”
Mira Costa had only one third-quarter drive and stalled within the San Juan Hills pink zone twice within the fourth quarter, main to 2 turnovers on downs. The Stallions’ senior-led protection saved Mustangs junior quarterback Liam Meeker, who’s filling in for the injured Nicolas De La Cruz, always on the chase with their physicality.
Whether or not it was nostril guard Gavin Blum, linebacker Greg Blomdahl or Port, the constant stress drove Meeker to tally simply 163 passing yards on 31 makes an attempt as a result of Mira Costa’s run sport was struggling.
All three Stallions tallied a sort out for loss Friday, whereas Blum sacked Meeker as soon as.
Port, a 6-foot-2, 228-pound UCLA commit, pointed to his defensive teammates for the hassle they’ve put in by 5 video games.
San Juan Hills has allowed 10 or fewer factors in three contests.
“We got a ton of pride in our Stallion defense,” Port stated. “[Defense has] always been the focal point of our team. Everything comes through how our defense plays and our offense feeds off of that.”
