Carlmont runs over San Mateo

San Mateo's defense absorbed the brunt of the their frustrations as the Scots rushed for 345 yards and three touchdowns in a 27-13 win over the Bearcats.

The Carlmont defense was just as good, limiting San Mateo to 241 yards of total offense and just two touchdowns - one of which went for 61 yards.

"We were embarrassed last week," said Carlmont coach Ben White. "We didn't really work on offense (during the week)."

The Scots focused on stopping San Mateo quarterback C.J. Easter, who can beat a team with his arm or his legs, White said. Easter, who carried the ball 15 times for 42 yards last week in a win over Leland, was held to 13 yards on three rushes Friday.

"The number one thing was to contain their quarterback," White said. "I think that was the difference."

After watching his team's performance, it was San Mateo coach Mike Parodi who was embarrassed.

"Atrocious," was Parodi's one-word answer to his team's performance. "We can't block, we can't tackle. In every aspect, we came out flat and [Carlmont] kicked our butts."

The San Mateo defense, which had carried the Bearcats thus far this season, got off to another good start. After San Mateo fumbled away the opening kickoff, the Bearcats forced a fumble of their own inside their 5-yard line. But with the San Mateo offense stalling, it was only a matter of time before Carlmont got its running game in gear. R.J. Nicholl, who rushed for a game-high 174 yards on just 14 carries, gave Carlmont (1-1 Bay Division, 2-2 overall) a 6-0 lead when he bulled his way into the end zone from a yard out.

San Mateo (1-3, 0-1) came right back, however. After picking up an initial first down, Easter dropped back and hit Nick Montgomery on a crossing pattern. Montgomery picked up a couple of blocks and sailed down the right sideline for the score. Lorenzo Chavez's extra point gave San Mateo a 7-6 lead, its only one of the game.

"[The score] was exactly how you draw it on the board," Parodi said.

It would be the Bearcats last highlight for a while. Carlmont took a 12-7 lead with 6:58 left in the first half when Nicholl broke off a 40-yard scamper. He took the handoff and went over left tackle and broke into the secondary.

Nicholl effectively put the game away on the second play of the second half. After Nicholl gained eight yards on the first play of the third quarter, Carlmont quarterback Matt Gutgsell came to the line and called an audible. Nicholl took the handoff and went 72 yards virtually untouched for a 20-7 Scots' advantage.

"We just kept hammering," White said. "Those big runs, we ran to where they weren't."

The Scots racked up 345 yards on the ground. Besides Nicholl's 174 yards, Josh Suguitan added 132 of his own on 18 carries, all but nine of which came in the second half.

Anything positive about his team's performance was beyond Parodi's immediate recollection, but he knows there was some good that came out of the game.

"There's definitely some positives," Parodi said. "We'll find them on film."

Nathan Mollat can be reached at e-mail: nathan@smdailyjournal.com or by phone: (650) 344-5200 x102. What do you think of this story? Send a letter to the editor: letters@smdaily.com.