Banning Gets the Breaks to Beat San Clemente, 14-7
Wilmington Banning, slowed by a stingy San Clemente defense, got enough breaks and broke through enough to defeat the Tritons, 14-7, in a nonleague game Friday at San Clemente.
San Clemente (2-3) was aiming to shut down Banning’s ground game, especially its speedy offensive backfield of quarterback Vaimagalo Faavi-Tua’au and tailback Damin Hurst, and for the most part was successful.
But Banning (3-2) was able to score two second-half touchdowns, taking advantage of two big plays and several San Clemente errors.
The most costly Triton mistake came with four minutes remaining, when Banning’s Mike Henderson got through the Tritons’ line to block a punt by Allen Vaughan.
Derrick Hooks recovered on the San Clemente seven-yard line and three plays later, Hurst scored on a three-yard run to give Banning a 14-7 lead.
Banning’s first touchdown, on the opening possession of the second half, was set up by two 15-yard penalties that helped move the ball from the Banning 47 to the San Clemente 34.
From there, London McBride out-jumped the San Clemente secondary to pull down a 34-yard touchdown pass from Faavi-Tua’au.
Until a late 37-yard run by Hurst, San Clemente contained Banning’s rushing game. Faavi-Tua’au, who runs as often as he passes, was held to 24 yards rushing and was sacked twice. Hurst gained 75 yards in 11 carries.
San Clemente quarterback Brett Hall, who entered the game averaging better than 200 yards passing, had his troubles, completing 13 of 25 passes for 118 yards and two interceptions.
Although Hall didn’t appear as sharp as usual, he also was hurt by several dropped passes.
“Banning had good speed in the secondary and when you have good speed in the secondary, it’s hard to throw the ball,” San Clemente Coach Mark McElroy said.
Therefore, Hall was made vulnerable to the Pilots’ pass rush and was sacked three times for losses of 26 yards.
San Clemente depended on the run for its only touchdown, after a 93-yard drive that tied the score early in the fourth quarter. Vaughan, who scored on a 14-yard run, rushed five times for 34 yards on the drive.
