Cap senior scores unique eight-point combo with pick-6

Hafer was in the right place at the right time not once, but twice, in Capuchino’s 43-0 victory Friday night over Jefferson at Carl Reyna Field. Maybe it was a make good by the winds of San Bruno, since the senior missed the chance for touchdowns two different times earlier in the game. Then his fortunes changed when an errant Jefferson pass came his way in the second quarter.

Manning the cornerback position, Hafer came up with the interception and returned it 69 yards for a pick-6 touchdown.

“It came right to me,” Hafer said. “I was sitting behind the receiver and he just overthrew it.”

That’s enough to top any player’s highlight reel. But what happened next might have been even better as Hafer, who is the holder on extra-point attempts, had to run down a wayward snap and, by virtue of his survival instincts, scooped it up, turned up the left side, and ran it in for an impromptu two-point conversion.

“If it’s a bad snap, I yell out ‘Fire!’ and I turn around and try to throw it to somebody in the end zone,” Hafer said.

“But when I looked into the end zone, nobody was there,” he said. “So, I saw a bunch of Jefferson guys running at me, and I just decided to turn it around — like in Madden, kind of — and I just ran into the end zone. Nobody was there.”

It was perfect timing seeing as Hafer had conferred with Cap assistant coach Herb Martinez during pregame warmups. Martinez is new to the Mustangs’ coaching staff. Normally a soccer coach, he is moonlighting to help Cap’s football team develop a legitimate kicking approach — something that, as anyone who has watched the Mustangs rely on 100% onside kicks in recent years knows, the program can benefit from.

Martinez said he and the field goal/point-after team were reviewing the “Fire!” drill during the pregame, when Martinez encouraged Hafer to use his athleticism to make things happen if snaps should, by chance, go wayward. Well, by chance one did.

Hafer’s earlier chances on offense would have been more conventional routes to the highlight reel, albeit not nearly as interesting.

His first shot came with four minute remaining in the first quarter. With Cap leading 7-0, the offense drove into the red zone, and quarterback Bobby Gomez took a shot at Hafer in the corner of the end zone on from the Jefferson 12. But Hafer was well defended by Jeff cornerback Mario Hernandez, who tipped the ball up to find safety Zion Adams-Aurilio for an interception.

Hafer’s second trip to the end zone saw him actually get there with the pigskin. This time it was on a punt return. With the Mustangs leading 14-0, Hafer trucked 61 yards for an apparent touchdown. But as he was doing his celebration dance, a yellow flag took a bite out of happy time and brought the play back for holding call on Cap.

The Mustangs would go on to go on the march and score on a 23-yard run by head coach Jay Oca’s son, Javon Oca.

On Jeff’s next possession, Hafer finally seized his touchdown glory — and then some. When asked about it, though, his first response was to give props to a downfield block that opened the door for the unlikely eight-point run.

“He gave me a great block down the field against the quarterback,” Hafer said. “And without that block from Issa Keishk, I wouldn’t have scored.”

Terry Bernal is a sports writer for the Daily Journal. He can be reached via email at terry@smdailyjournal.com.