It was San Marino High’s penultimate Rio Hondo League football game of the regular season, and the host Titans were not planning on letting Temple City hang around.
It was a statement game, and that statement was made early.
The Titans put up 43 points in the second quarter to overwhelm the visiting Rams 57-7 for the Rio Hondo victory in a game that was played with a running clock for the majority of the contest on Oct. 20.
“Tonight was about us,” San Marino coach Nate Turner said. “It was never about the opponent. No disrespect to [Temple City], but we set the barometer each week and we say we have to play to a higher level every single week.”
The win means the Titans (8-1 overall, 4-0 in league) earned at least a share of the Rio Hondo League title and will finish atop the standings regardless of what happens in the league finales among the contenders.
San Marino can secure the league title outright with a win against visiting Monrovia on Thursday, Oct. 26, but a loss means the Titans would have to share the throne with the Wildcats.
It would also open the door for a three-way tie for first if South Pasadena defeats Pasadena Poly on Friday.
San Marino battered the Rams with the power running game that accounted for five of the hosts’ seven touchdowns in the first half. The running back tandem of senior Coleman Morning and junior Julian Solis shined. Morning had eight carries for 133 yards and three touchdowns, all in the second quarter.
“I had so much running room. The holes were huge. All I had to do was run from point A to point B,” Morning said, praising his offensive line.
Solis had 79 yards and two touchdowns on eight carries. Neither had a carry in the second half.
“Our running game is the strongest part of our offense,” Solis said.
A 7-yard touchdown run by Solis, which capped a 45-yard drive on the Titans’ second possession, meant that San Marino had a 7-0 advantage going into the second quarter. Then the Titan offense exploded for more points in the frame than they had scored in the entirety of all but one of their games this season.
It started on the second play of the quarter, when Morning ran up the middle for a 40-yard touchdown with 11:25 left. Nick Acuna, who made all seven of his PAT kicks, then made it 14-0.
It took Temple City (3-6, 0-4) just two plays to respond. The first was a bubble screen that went for 63 yards until Titan Ryan Park made a touchdown saving tackle. However, on the next play the Rams scored on a 3-yard touchdown pass to cut the lead to 14-7. The Titans needed just two snaps to answer back when Solis ran 38 yards for a touchdown to make it 21-7 with 10:23 to go.
The Titans then successfully executed an onside kick recovered by JJ Wilson. The first play of the ensuing 44-yard scoring drive was a 24-yard run by Morning, and it ended with an 11-yard touchdown run by Morning for a 28-7 lead with 8:36 to go.
San Marino was then successful on another onside kick, with Tomas Bilvado making the recovery. Early in the ensuing drive was a key 25-yard connection between quarterback Brady Beck, returning from injury, and Wilson on third down and long. It ended with a short pass from freshman Parker Wilson to Sid Danenhauer that turned into a 22-yard touchdown and a 35-7 lead with 6:11 to go.
The Rams’ next drive ended quickly when Nick Escamilla recorded an interception. The following 35-yard scoring drive lasted two plays. The first was a 15-yard run by Parker Wilson, and Beck capped the drive with a 20-yard touchdown throw to Mikey Yessaian. The hosts’ lead was now 42-7 with 4:17 remaining before the break.
Temple City then fumbled on the first play of the next drive, with Liam Van Fossan making the recovery. On the next snap Morning ran for a 10-yard touchdown with 4:00 left in the frame. The Titans then successfully converted a two-point conversion on a run by Solis for a 50-7 advantage. From there forward, the officials, by agreement with the Rams, ran the clock for the final 28 minutes of the contest.
“They asked the referees if we would accept to run the clock,” Turner said. “They conceded early with four minutes to go in the second quarter. We knew they had kind of given up.”
The second half saw the Titans, with mainly reserves on the field, fit in one final touchdown when Parker Wilson scored on a 17-yard run in the final minute.
“To get some other guys in the game and give them an opportunity to show what they can do, that’s what we wanted to focus on,” Turner said of the second half. “It wasn’t about running up the score.”
In addition to Solis and Morning’s 212 rushing yards, Parker Wilson rushed seven times for 45 yards and a touchdown. Park had three carries for 34 yards, while Van Fossan had two carries for 29 yards.
Beck started at quarterback and was 7 of 10 for 76 yards and the touchdown. Parker Wilson was 4 of 6 for 19 yards and the touchdown. Yessaian, the only Titan with multiple receptions, had five grabs for 43 yards, including the touchdown.
First published in the Oct. 26 issue of the San Marino Tribune
