Pacifica’s Rai Sagastume breaks tackles for a gain Thursday night against Crean Lutheran.
(Photos by Fernando M. Donado / For OC Sports Zone)
Pacifica’s football team had a lot to feel good about Thursday night.
The Mariners improved their record to 2-0 in the Empire League with a 40-13 victory over Crean Lutheran at Garden Grove.
To see the slide show, please click on the first photo.
But the Mariners lost their starting quarterback Sean Blake after he injured his knee on a run in the third quarter. Blake was having a sensational game. He passed for 221 yards and two touchdowns and was helped off the field by his teammates.
Pacifica coach Vinnie Lopez said it was too early to tell the extent of the injury.
“He’s going to go and have it checked out with the doctor,” Lopez said. “Right now, they’re not exactly sure what it is. I don’t know if he will be back next week or not but the thing I did like was our back-up guy (Isaac Torres) stepped in and controlled the offense and we went down and got two scores after our starter got injured.
“It’s terrible when injuries happen like that. It’s a knee injury.”
Pacifica (4-3 overall) got a big performance from running back Rai Sagastume, who rushed for 200 yards on 19 carries. He scored on touchdown runs of 25 and 81 yards and hauled in a 24-yard TD catch in the first half. He also had four catches for 80 yards.
“I can’t thank the line enough,” said Sagustume. “They opened up wide open holes for me and I’m very thankful for my line. They did a tremendous job and I just got out there and scored.”
Pacifica had 175 yards in penalties but had enough big plays for overcome the flags. Isaiah Blevins finished the game strong with TD runs of 1 and 16 yards in the fourth quarter. Bryan Leonard also had a big night with four catches for 89 yards, including a 29-yard TD catch in the second quarter.
“Sloppy,” Lopez said when asked to describe his team’s play. “It was a short week against an opponent we don’t really know other than seeing them on film. It’s to be expected to be a little sloppy, It was a flag fest on both sides of the ball. It’s a W, we’re 2-0 and we will continue to build on it and try and get better and go meet Tustin next week.”
Crean Lutheran (4-3, 0-2) was led by Nolan Folsom who had a 93-yard kickoff return for a touchdown late in the first half. The Saints scored their other touchdown when Jack Johnson connected with Michael Berelowitz, who had been the quarterback all night, on a 32-yard TD pass in the fourth quarter.
“I think we battled,” said Crean Coach Randall Reynoso. “I think there were a couple key moments in the game similar to last week where the endurance and physicality got to us a little bit. But we were right there for the most part. We cleaned up some of the self inflicted mistakes from the first half. There were too many penalties and a couple bad snaps. Defensively, we have to get 11 hats to the ball.”
Pacifica’s defense was tough all night against the rush, allowing just 25 yards.
              STATS
Crean      0  7  0  6  –  13
Pacifica     7  20 0  13  –  40
RUSHING: Crean Folsom 9-17; Pacifica Sagustume 19-200, Blevins 16-127.
PASSING: Crean Berelowitz 4-14-0, 40 yards, Johnson 1-1-0, 26 yards, 1 TD; Pacifica Blake 14-19-0, 221 yards, 2 TDs.
RECEIVING: Crean Berelowitz 1-32. St. George 1-16. Harris 1-16; Pacifica Leonard 4-89, Sagustume 4-80.
-Tim Burt. OC Sports Zone
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