El Capitan Rolls Past USDHS, Into Semis

El Capitan, a team that didn’t do much more than breathe last season, flattened visiting USDHS, 34-14, Saturday night in the 2-A quarterfinals and will play second-ranked El Camino next Saturday in the semifinals.

In the ninth week of last season, El Capitan snapped an 18-game losing streak. After starting this season with two losses and a tie, the Vaqueros (9-2-1) came alive and now have won nine in a row, a school record. And Saturday marked the first time the Vaqueros have won two playoff games.

Not bad for a team that could have been fitted for toe tags a little more than a year ago.

“We don’t see an end to it,” said quarterback Bob Vickery, who carried 10 times for 69 yards and scored a touchdown. “We just see the stadium.”

San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium, that is. Site of the championship game.

First, though, there is the matter of El Camino, which squashed Oceanside 63-27 Friday night.

“Hey, we’ve just got to suck it up,” Vickery said. “We can handle them if we keep doing what we’re doing.”

Which is control the line of scrimmage and run, run and run some more. El Capitan took a 20-0 lead on a 26-yard touchdown keeper by Vickery and two touchdown runs by running back James Hopkins, a one-yarder and a 16-yarder.

USDHS (10-2) drove 52 yards in 12 plays for a touchdown on its first possession of the second half to make it 20-7. El Cap answered before the third quarter was over to end the suspense with an 18-yard touchdown from running back Eric Rockhold, who led his team with 75 yards in 12 carries and scored two touchdowns.

USDHS was led by running back Chris Lewis, who carried 25 times for 132 yards and a touchdown. The Dons managed only 52 yards passing.

“They’re a good football team, I guess,” said Lewis, when asked what happened to his team. “I don’t know. We just fell apart. We could have beaten those guys. They’re not that much better than us.”