Cap Mustangs run wild over Jeff

“We have too many running backs,” Capuchino head coach Jay Oca said. “We wanted to get everybody in. We wanted to rotate everybody in, everybody get some good reps, good experience, quality reps. Jeff is doing their best out there. ... So, several series, we were able to move guys along.”

Sophomore running back Victor Villarreal added five carries for 31 yards and a touchdown, senior Javon Oca had two carries for 27 yards, including a 23-yard touchdown run, while junior Rome Iosia, sophomore Brody Farrugia, senior Cameron Chin and senior Issa Keishk all logged carries at well.

As for Zayac — who opened the season with 105 yards on 19 carries in a 27-3 win Friday, Aug. 30, at Sequoia — resting the big guy’s legs should bode well for a Cap team looking to return to the postseason for a second straight year.

“More than 13, 14, 15 games, we don’t have to lean on him so much, we don’t have to lean on his back so much,” Oca said. “So, that’s what we’re working for.”

That’s right, Oca is thinking big. A 15-game season would mean a trip to a CIF State Championship Bowl game.

“Always thinking big, baby,” Oca said. “Always thinking big.”

It’s hard to argue after Cap’s red hot start, though Jefferson was a hurting unit Friday. The Grizzlies (0-2) suffered a slew of in-game injuries, and finished the game with just 13 players able to to take the field.

“We’ve got some guys that will be healthy,” Jefferson head coach Imani Stewart said. “But we fight. At Jeff, that’s what we do, we fight. We took this game knowing it was going to be a challenge. We were up for the challenge. We know our league (the Peninsula Athletic League Lake Division) is not up to that level (with Cap in the PAL De Anza Division), so we have to play somebody at this level just to get our measuring stick.”

The biggest loss has been that of junior center Henry Hernandez, who has yet to play through the first two weeks of the season. This created chaos for Jeff quarterback Michael Slugher, who Friday was consistently retrieving errant snaps flying over his head, including one that turning into a fumble recovery for Cap in the end zone for a touchdown.

Cap went right to work, opening the game with a 52-yard post route from from junior quarterback Bobby Gomez to Travis Ciardella. Two plays later, Zayac blasted through for a 4-yard touchdown score to put the Mustangs on the board. It’s the second straight week Cap has opened the game with a big pass play.

“You have a guy that has some accuracy, has an arm, that has a good football IQ, then you’re going to use that,” Oca said. “I mean, I could have him hand the ball off. We have a great running back as well, we have a great line. So, we’re in a pretty good situation.”

Jefferson turned the ball over on downs, and the Cap offense went back on the march. Zayac took carries of 8, 10 and 5 yards as the Mustangs moved the ball into the red zone. But their first shot at the end zone went for a turnover, as Gomez’s pass attempt to Will Hafer was tipped up in the air by cornerback Mario Hernandez Ahuatzin, and safety Zion Adams-Aurilio was in the right place to intercept it for a touchback.

But three plays later, Cap snatched it back when a shotgun snap went flying over Jeff quarterback Michael Slugher’s head. The ball bounded into the end zone and the Grizzlies, seeming to not want to incur a safety, didn’t pick it up, allowing Cap lineman Mafi Falau to pounce for the touchdown, making it 14-0.

“I seen that they were all pushing out and that they didn’t want to touch the ball,” Folau said. “So, I just hopped on it.”

After Jeff’s following possession ended in a punt, the Mustangs scored on the game’s next three possessions. The Mustangs made it 21-0 by moving the ball 63 yards on eight plays, with senior Javon Oca bouncing off tackle for a dynamic 23-yard score to up the lead to 21-0.

Then Hafer, from the cornerback position, turned in the two most impressive plays of the game. Hafer not only recorded a pick-6, returning an interception 69 yards to score the first touchdown of his varsity career. On the ensuing point-after attempt, Hafer was the holder when a bad snap left him scrambling to scoop up the ball. Hafer initially looked to throw the ball, but saw some daylight around the left side and took off running for the end zone to score the two-point conversion, giving him all eight points on the series.

“I was very tired,” Hafer said. “I needed some water after that.”

Cap added one more score before the half, a 7-yard touchdown pass from Gomez to Ciardella to make it 36-0 at the break.

The entire second half was played to a running clock, with the Mustangs scoring once more on their first possession of the half. After recovering a Jefferson fumble at the 50, Cap needed seven plays to score, with Villareal punching it in for a 1-yard TD.

Gomez finished 5-of-8 passing for 116 yards, with one interception and one touchdown. The Cap defense was stout in pressure downs, with Jefferson converting just 2 of 10 on third-down tries, and 3 for 6 on fourth-downs.