Nathan Mollat / Daily Journal San Mateo defensive back John Niupalau wraps up a Gunn receiver before driving him into the turf during the Bearcats' 33-0 win over the Titans Saturday afternoon.

If there is one thing to take away from the San Mateo High football team, it’s this: Two weeks into the season, the big play will be part of its arsenal. That was in evidence Saturday afternoon as the Bearcats used a number of big plays to beat visiting Gunn, 33-0

Coupled with an opening week 31-0 whitewashing of Hillsdale, it appears the Bearcats’ offense is in mid-season form. A closer look, however, suggests all is not perfect in the Bearcats’ lair. Saturday, despite scoring long touchdowns on its first two drives, San Mateo still only managed 257 yards of total offense and turned the ball over five times.

“I’d give the offense a ‘C+’,” said San Mateo coach Jeff Scheller. “We did a better job of sustaining drives. But we had a lot of turnovers.”

Even if the offense graded out to average, the defense was star pupil in this win. The San Mateo defense shut out its opponent for the second straight week, a game that was made even more fun by the fact the Bearcats returned an interception and a fumble for scores.

“I’m worried everyone will expect us to pitch a shutout (every week),” Scheller said. “We have Aragon coming up.”

The defensive unit, led by linebackers Taukei Taimani, Patrick Latu and Max Indicks, along with defensive linemen Tu’u Liu and J.J. Solaita(among others), held the Titans to just 108 yards of total offense. The Bearcats forced six fumbles and scored 12 points. Late in the second quarter, Taimani drifted left at the snap, read the quarterback and jumped the Gunn route. He snatched the ball out of the air and went 40 yards the other way, giving San Mateo a 19-0 lead. In the third quarter, Latu stripped the ball from a Gunn ball carrier and rumbled 41 yards for a touchdown to put the Bearcats up 26-0. Latu later added a 5-yard, bulldozing run to the end zone for the Bearcats final score.

“Defense was our main point last year,” Taimani said, who finished with two interceptions and two touchdowns. “We felt our defense would be better this year. We’re just trying to fly around everywhere.”

As well as the defense played, it appeared early on the offense was on the same page as the Bearcats needed just five plays from scrimmage to jump out to a 13-0 lead with 9:04 left in the first quarter. After taking the opening kickoff, San Mateo needed just two plays to find paydirt. Quarterback Mitch Labbie hooked up for a 9-yard gain on a pass to Simon Kang before Taimani took a handoff up the gut, shed a couple of tacklers and sped his way to a 56-yard touchdown.

“He was unbelievable. Unexpected, really,” Scheller said. “Especially the first (scoring) run. He’s the captain of the defense. He’s a good runner, but he gets tired for defense.”

Liu recovered a Gunn fumble at the Titans 24-yard line to give San Mateo excellent field position. After a false start penalty and two running plays that gained no yards, the Bearcats, once again, went to their big-play playbook. Labbie took the snap, rolled to right, pumped once before unleashing a perfect rainbow pass down the right sideline. He found Shek Kumar, who flew by a defender who bit on Labbie’s pump fake. The ball nestled into Kumar’s grasp and he went into the end zone for a 29-yard touchdown reception.

San Mateo 33, Gunn 0

Gunn 0 0 0 0 – 0

San Mateo 13 6 14 0 – 33

Scoring summary

SM – Taimani 56 run (Rodriguez kick)

SM – Kumar 29 pass from Labbie (kick fail) SM – Taimaini 40 interception return (run fail)

SM – Latu 41 fumble return (Rodriguez kick)

SM – Latu 5 run (Rodriguez kick)

Individual stats

RUSHING (car-yds): GUNN – N. Jackson 16-84, Jermy 10-24, Patel 2-12, Zeglin 3-2, Luskin 1-0, Parks 1-(-1), Sonuga 1-(-2), J. Jackson 1-(-8), Johnson 4-(-17). Totals 39-94. SAN MATEO – Taimani 6-60, Labbie 8-58, Filikitonga 12-31, Vargas 1-11, Naufahu 3-2, Indicks 1-2. Totals 31-164.

PASSING (comp-att-yds-tds-ints): GUNN – Luskin 2-9-6-0-2, Patel 1-3-8-0-0, Johnson 0-2-0-0-1. Totals 3-14-14-0-3. SAN MATEO – Labbie 6-15-93-1-2, Vargas 0-1-0-0-0. Totals 6-16-93-1-2.

RECEIVING (rec-yds): GUNN – Lynch 2-13, Parks 1-1. Totals 3-14. SAN MATEO – Kumar 3-62, Liu 1-19, Kang 1-9, Filikitonga 1-3. Totsals 6-93.

TOTAL OFFENSE (rush-pass-total): GUNN – 94-14-108. SAN MATEO – 164-93-257.