San Pasqual rolls past Mt. Carmel with 42-20 road win

by Breven Honda

Getting hot this late in the season is every team’s goal, wanting to be peaking ahead of the playoffs.

Both San Pasqual and Mt. Carmel were coming off blowout wins last week, making this week a test as to which offense can continue to roll with two weeks left in the regular season.

The Golden Eagles prevailed with 449 yards of offense for a 42-20 road victory at Mt. Carmel on Friday evening.

“We clicked on all aspects of the game today,” said San Pasqual quarterback Robert Renteria, who completed 12-of-20 passes for 321 yards and three touchdowns as well as 46 rushing yards on three carries and a 5-yard touchdown. “ I want to give a shout out to the defense today to hand it down and give the offense an opportunity.”

San Pasqual has now won four of its last five games. Furthermore, the Golden Eagles (6-3, 2-1 Palomar League) have scored at least 42 points in each of those four wins, including a 60-0 shutout three weeks ago.

Renteria completed passes to four different receivers as Jordan Simmons caught three passes for 116 yards and two touchdowns, from 53 and 43 yards out, respectively. In addition, Marcus Rocha caught five passes for 114 yards, including one for 62 yards.

“He takes command and he can find guys open,” San Pasqual head coach Tony Corley said of his senior quarterback. “I don’t know how he does it, but he’s good with that. Plus, the offensive line gives him good time so he doesn’t have to scramble but he does do well when he scrambles, too.”

The Golden Eagles’ defense also stepped up, recording two turnovers, including a 48-yard fumble return for a touchdown by Landon Lockwood.

“It builds momentum,” Renteria said. “We built off of that as the game went on. We stopped them. We scored points and it came out to be a good result.”

San Pasqual’s defense also got two fourth-down stops, limiting the Sundevils (4-6, 1-3 Palomar League) on multiple scoring drives.

Corley said the fumble return touchdown, in addition to Jonathan Leon catching an interception as Mt. Carmel was driving down the field, was crucial.

“Mt. Carmel’s quarterback is obviously very good and they’ve got skilled guys,” he said. “I was happy with our defense. We weren’t able to get as much pressure as we hoped, but our secondary did a great job and shut them down.”

Mt. Carmel, which was playing its final regular-season game, was led by quarterback Trevor Taumoepeau. He completed 28-of-44 passes for 271 yards with two touchdowns, a two-point conversion and an interception.

Vohnn Brown led the Sundevils in receiving, catching nine passes for 119 yards, highlighted by a 12-yard touchdown. In addition, Connor Gibbons recorded eight receptions for 58 yards, including a two-point conversion after Brown’s touchdown to cut San Pasqual’s lead to 21-14 with 4:54 left in the third quarter.

Next week, San Pasqual plays its final regular-season game on Thursday against Escondido while Mt. Carmel gets a bye week to rest up for the playoffs.