Sacred Heart Prep uses 20-point third quarter to down Half Moon Bay

“I think we were pretty fired up, and then it snowballed,” Grieb said.

After a HMB three-and-out, SHP (2-1) took over at the Cougars’ 39 and went to town on the ground. Morelle picked up a 33-yard chunk to set up another Karros score from 2 yards out, putting the Gators ahead 27-7.

Morelle finished with two touchdowns on the night — one on defense, and another on a toss play with quarterback Nico Pollioni delivering a backward pass to Morelle, who connected with senior Nathan Fox for a 52-yard touchdown pass. It was the first varsity TD reception for Fox, who plays receiver on offense, safety on defense, and is also the Gators’ kicker.

HMB (2-1) sent it to halftime tied 7-7 on a hook-and-ladder pass with sophomore quarterback Paxton Holden delivering the ball and junior Brandon Melo scoring on the 67-yard play.

Fox added his second TD catch of the game in the fourth quarter, a 31-yard slant with a pass from Pollioni to give the Gators a 34-7 advantage.

“It was a sweet one, too,” Grieb said. “Split the defenders, avoided another guy. It was nice.”

SHP’s Albert Cesena recovered a fumble to put his team right back on the attack to set up Fox for a 27-yard field goal to make it 37-7. Holden recorded three TDs in the final seven minutes for HMB. The Cougars failed on two-point conversions after the sophomore’s 45-yard scoring pass and 3-yard rush. An interception by HMB’s Ronin McCauley then set up Holden for a 14-yard scoring pass with under a minute to play, and he followed by rushing it in for the two-point conversion.

The win gets the Gators back in the win column against HMB, after last year when the Cougars rallied late and scored the go-ahead touchdown in the final minute for a stunning 22-21 victory.