Carlmont beats Jefferson by TKO

If this was a boxing match, the decision would go down as a technical knockout-referee’s decision. But the truth of the matter is, he could have called the game after halftime. Carlmont scored touchdowns on five first-half possessions, got a 28-yard field goal from Conner Cook on the other, to lead 31-0 at halftime.

The Scots then scored on their only possession of the second half to round out the scoring for the night.

For Rado and the Scots, the win was more of a relief than anything. Carlmont was mired in a three-game slide and were coming off a beating at the hands of San Mateo, 44-19, last week.

The Scots simply wanted to feel good again as they picked up their first win in PAL Ocean Division play.

“I just wanted the seniors to feel good about themselves,” Rado said. “It was a complete game.”

Carlmont (1-3 PAL Ocean, 4-4 overall) running back John Hanna told the Daily Journal last week that he felt like he let his team down in the loss to the Bearcats.

Thursday, he put the team on his back. Hanna rushed for 146173 yards and three touchdowns on 16 carries as the Scots rushed for 241 yards as a team.

“I thought [Hanna] responded great,” Rado said. “We were able to share carries.”

At one point, Hanna scored on three straight carries. He capped the Scots’ longest drive of the game — 10 plays, 84 yards — with an 8-yard score. After forcing a Jefferson (0-4, 1-6) punt, Hanna picked his way through traffic for a 20-yard touchdown and went 19 yards to paydirt on his next tote.

Hanna hardly shoulder the load by himself, however. Rich Smith added 46 yards and a score on four carries, while Trevor Johnson rushed for 23 yards on two carries and Juan Olvera add 6 on two carries.

Olvera also had one yard receiving — the only completion of the game for Carlmont quarterback Jack Wiessinger, who only attempted three passes — but that went for a score as well.

The Carlmont defense was just as impressive, as the Scots held the Grizzlies to just 85 yards of offense in the first half — 55 of which came on the final possession of the second quarter.

Jefferson would finish the game with 205 yards of offense.

Jefferson, however, did find a little rhythm against many of the Scots’ defensive reserves in the second half. The Grizzlies took the second-half kickoff and marched 71 yards on eight plays, culminating with a Taylor-to-Michael Nosadini 10-yard touchdown pass.

Taylor then led a drive down to the Carlmont 3, before getting injured on a fourth-down play and Jefferson’s Portela deciding to end the proceedings there.

“It’s hard to say, honestly,” Portela said when asked about the difference with his offense between the first and second halves.

“The ball was just rolling our way a little bit more in the second half.”

Taylor provided the bulk of the offense for the Grizzlies. He rushed for 55 yards on 10 carries, while completing 12-of-24 passes for 126 yards. Michael Slugher was his main target, who caught four passes for 46 yards. Nosadini caught three balls for 26 yards, including Jefferson’s only score of the game.

When Taylor went down in the fourth, Portela did not have a competent backup to replace Taylor. At that point, with 18 healthy bodies, Portela decided it was best to live to fight another day.

“We came in with 21 and I think we lost three more (players) tonight,” Portela said. “The reality of it is, we’ve been in this position for the last three or four weeks. … We’re trying to get to the end of the season.

“We had to make an adult, make a parent, decision.”

Editor's note: Carlmont's individual rushing numbers have been updated