El Camino drops fifth straight

El Camino’s fifth straight loss came Saturday 48-8 at the hands of Lincoln-SF, the reigning Division 6-A state champions, this just one week after getting hammered by undefeated Half Moon Bay, a team that advanced to the state championship stage in 2017.

“Preseason was definitely going to be a big challenge for us, obviously, with powerhouses in their leagues and in their sections.” said Rustin Mayorga, El Camino’s first-year head coach still in search of his first win. “But with that, if you want to be the best, you’ve got to beat the best. It’s a good opportunity to see where we’re at, especially heading into league. We’re probably not going to see state championship teams back-to-back-to-back.”

Coming up on a bye week, El Camino (0-5 overall) has until Oct. 11 to get ready, and get well, for the opening game in Peninsula Athletic League Lake Division slate. The Colts can certainly use the respite, having 18 players suited up Saturday, while just 13 saw the lion’s share of the playing time.

With first-string quarterback Noel Valdez out with an injury — the junior cracked three ribs the previous week against HMB — the Colts didn’t only turn to backup quarterback Javion Tarusan, they were forced to revamp their entire pro-style offense to a wildcat formation.

Tarusan — making his first game-day appearance at QB at any level of football — is a regular wide receiver who led the Colts with 16 touchdowns last season, and holds the team lead with five this year. He attempted just three passes against Lincoln in a run-intensive approach that was so deliberate, Tarusan’s regular complement in the receiving corps, senior Thomas Haysbert, changed from No. 82 to No. 29 as to switch into the backfield.

“This whole week, we just focused on a new formation, a new quarterback and everything,” Tarusan said. “ … I feel like we did pretty good.”

Lincoln (2-1) dominated in time of possession, running 55 plays compared to that of 25 run by El Camino. The Colts ended with a net of 52 total yards, while Lincoln gained a blistering 426 total yards — 399 via the rush — paced by senior running back Luis Contreras with 18 carries for 147 yards and two touchdowns.

“You’ve just got to play ball,” Lincoln head coach Phil Ferrigno said. “We’re trying to hold on to the ball so, you don’t have it, you don’t score.”

Coming off a 56-0 shutout against Half Moon Bay, the Colts got on the board in the opening minutes of the game Saturday as Tarusan struck pay dirt on just the second snap of his varsity career. It didn’t start out pretty, as the junior fumbled the snap, but he scooped it up, curled around the left side and emerged from traffic to go 51 yards for a touchdown. Tarusan even jetted into the end zone to tack on a 2-point conversion, giving El Camino an 8-0 lead.

“I lost the fumble and I just picked it up,” Tarusan said. “I tried to do a circle and I just saw everyone missing, missing. And I just tried to run as fast as I can.”

Lincoln would go on to sustain several long drives in the first half, but the following one was not one of them. After the Mustangs advanced the kickoff to their own 47, Contreras took his team’s first play from scrimmage to the house, exploiting the A-gap and flying down the left sideline for a 53-yard score, cutting the Colts’ lead to 8-7.

“He’s doing really well,” Ferrgino said. “And I think our line is playing really well, our defense has played really well. We were a little sloppy at the beginning with all the tackling, but once we got that figured out we were fine.”

El Camino played a spirited first half on defense. Lincoln’s next possession, while eating six-and-a-half minutes off the clock, resulted on a turnover on downs in the red zone when Colts cornerback Uraia Vasquez defended two identical pass attempts to the corner of the end zone.

Lincoln forced a three-and-out and went of to eat up 6:27 on its next possession, an 11-play drive capped by a 15-yard dash through the middle by Contreras for a touchdown to give the Mustangs the lead. Still, the Colts had some promising stops, led by linebackers Donovan McDowell and Edgar Duenas, and Tarusan flying in from the secondary for two tackles on the drive.

“The scoreboard doesn’t show it, but I thought the defense was really, really tough and scrappy,” Mayorga said. “… They fought hard. They made Lincoln work for every yard they got, which was a really, really good sign. They played well the first half. Second half, they faded away; a little bit of injuries here and there. But, for the most part, I am pleased. … For us being outnumbered, I’m really, really encouraged.”

It was the first of four straight Lincoln possessions to end in a score, though. Junior running back Ahleir Barnett added 17 carries for 75 yards and a touchdown. Xavier Abram, Tyree Cross and Owen Creed emerged in the second half, combining for over 100 rushing yards and two scores.

Lincoln quarterback Jonas Francovich added a 1-yard rushing score and a 27-yard scoring pass to tight end Nick Walker.

“Preseason, that’s when we play a lot of good teams,” Tarusan said. “Starting Monday, that’s when the season actually starts. So, I’ll start to go hard with these guys.”

El Camino opens Lake Division play against Woodside, another team that was low on numbers this week, with Wildcats head coach Justin Andrews citing a glut of injuries for forfeiting this past Friday’s game against Burlingame.

The Colts are looking to activate senior lineman Chris Smith — one of their top players who has yet to play this season — for the Oct. 11 league opener.

“We have a few guys nicked up right now,” Mayorga said. “So, hopefully we’ll get those guys back, fully healed so rolling around to the first of league play, we’ll be as healthy as we’ve ever been.”