Unknown QB steps up as Half Moon Bay hammers Sequoia

Two of Melo’s completions went for touchdown, both on first-half timing patterns to senior wide receiver Will Wimsett — a 66-yard slant, and a 30-yard play-action post — mimicking the selective but effective aerial attack HMB has thrived on all season.

“We had a great performance tonight,” Wimsett said. “He was out there firing, he was playing great. Way to step up when our main quarterback’s out. He’s mainly a slot, never plays quarterback, and he stepped up big time making big throws.”

Melo finished 8-of-9 passing for 136 yards with two TDs, while Wimsett had two catches, both for scores, for 96 yards.

Balanced by a two-pronged rushing attack from senior Ronin McCauley and junior Luke Pimentel, the Cougars rushed out to a 35-0 lead early in the second quarter, while Sequoia had run just eight offensive plays to that point.

“We knew that that was the one thing we couldn’t let happen,” Sequoia head coach Frank Mems said, “was them get off to a fast start like that. And to see it happen so fast, we tried our best to weather the storm, but it just wasn’t in our cards this week.”

Sequoia’s best defensive play came on the first play of the night, when a pitch to slot receiver Carlos Sanchez got knocked back for a 1-yard loss — reminiscent of last year when the Ravens battled past HMB for a 21-20 victory in a PAL Ocean Division rife with top-rate offenses that run the triple-option.

“We were confident,” Mems said. “We kept them to 20 points last year, and then just having to battle it out with them and San Mateo, who are pretty efficient at running this offense. We knew that we had a good game plan ... but at the end of the day, it just comes down to consistently executing.”

As it turned out, Melo and company were just getting warmed up.

HMB (1-0 PAL Ocean, 4-1 overall) sustained the opening drive with three, third-down pickups to march 58 yards on 10 plays, capped by a 26-yard scoring run by Pimentel. A two-point conversion pass made it 8-0.

Following a Sequoia punt, the Cougars flipped the field quickly, going to the air on first down with Melo connecting with Wimsett on a slant play over the middle. As the Sequoia cornerback swiped to knock the ball away, Wimsett cradled it and took off like a rocket, outrunning two defenders down the stretch to turn it into a 66-yard touchdown score.

“I saw the safeties and linebacker come down, I knew I had to fire it right behind them,” Melo said. “And he was just gone.”

HMB kept up the pressure by recovering an onside kick. This time, with a short field, the Cougars waited until fourth-and-4 before going back to the Melo-to-Wimsett slant pattern. Wimsett caught it in stride, bounced off a defender, and sprinted 30 yards for the score to give the Cougars a 21-0 lead with 2:45 to go in the opening quarter.

“He’s a fast kid,” HMB head coach Keith Holden said of Wimsett. “I made fun of him [two weeks ago], he got caught from behind. I said: ‘I thought you supposed to be fast, man?’ But not tonight. He was great tonight.”

It took the Cougars three plays into the second quarter to score again. Taking over at their own 27 following a Sequoia punt, HMB moved the sticks on the final play of the first with a 32-yard pass from Melo to Chester Collins to cross midfield. Three plays later, McCauley took an inside toss and bounced through the line for a 28-yard scoring run to up the lead to 28-0.

An interception by HMB’s Levi Meighan put the Cougars’ offense right back on the field, and another short one at that. McCauley again ran it into the end zone with a 2-yard score to make it 35-0 with 7:30 left in the half.

Melo — who was told Monday he’d be starting at QB — only threw one incomplete pass on the night, on his last attempt of the first half when he tried a Hail Mary up the sideline on fourth-and-12 as time expired.

“I knew I had to come out and play ball,” Melo said. “I’ve been playing quarterback in Pop Warner, and I kind of had the rhythm. And it just flowed good.”

With Sequoia (0-1, 2-3) taking the second-half kickoff, Melo put the offense on the field by notching an interception on the third play of the half. On the next play, Pimentel broke a 46-yard touchdown carry. A Sequoia three-and-out put had the Cougars back on the attack, and senior Caiden Guevara was thrust into action to get his first varsity reps at running back. The senior bit off chunks of 12, 25 and 14 yards on his first three carries, before punching in a 1-yard touchdown run.

Pimentel had 11 carries for 104 yards with two TDs, McCauley totaled 10 carries for 104 yards and two TDs, and Guevara had seven carries for 70 yards and one TD.

HMB rushed for 342 yards on the night, and outgained Sequoia 478-61 in total offense.