Pacifica Stumbles Out of Gate, Falls to Huntington Beach

Pacifica High School got off on the wrong foot and never really improved in its 23-12 nonleague loss to Huntington Beach Friday night at Sheue Field.

The Mariners (1-1) were penalized for being offside in their first two kickoff attempts to start the game, which should have been an omen of what was to follow.

Huntington Beach (2-0) used the running and defense of senior Adam Bowermaster, who rushed for 134 yards on 12 carries and caught a 19-yard touchdown pass from junior quarterback Jack Friend, to remain undefeated in two games.

And it was Bowermaster who sparked the Oiler defense and put the game out reach with a touchdown on a 47-yard interception of a Chris Castellano pass with 3 minutes 9 seconds left in the contest.

Even with their initial troubles, however, Pacifica managed to muster some offense in the early going.

The Mariners opened the scoring on a five-yard pass from Castellano to wide receiver Brian Danskin with 7:47 left in the first quarter. They scored again five minutes later on a 12-yard pass interception by Eric Stevens of a Friend pass. Both two-point conversion attempts failed and Pacifica led, 12-0.

But Huntington Beach shut out the Mariners the rest of the way and got its offense started.

Friend found Bowermaster on the 19-yard play to cut the lead to 12-7 and Nick Peters put the Oilers ahead, 13-12, on a one-yard run early in the fourth quarter. The Oilers added an 18-yard field goal by Alex Acocello and Bowermaster’s interception to wrap up the scoring.

“We came back when we had to,” said Huntington Beach offensive coordinator Bob Dreifus. “We showed some character. We needed it and we got it.”