Capistrano Valley Finds Strength to Beat Long Beach Wilson

Jet lag never looked so good.

After last week’s opening game in Hawaii and a couple of days, in the sun Capistrano Valley wasn’t exactly in top shape.

But the third-ranked Cougars rebounded from the loss in Honolulu to zap Long Beach Wilson, 20-0, Friday night at Capistrano Valley High.

“They were pretty flat,” said Cougar Coach Eric Patton. “They played hard, but not real inspired.”

Maybe not, but senior running back Dan Geiss rushed 22 times for 124 yards, including the Cougars’ third-quarter touchdown--an 11-yard scamper up the middle with 26 left in the period--that gave Capistrano Valley the victory.

Cougar defensive back Bron Witten set up Geiss’ touchdown run a play earlier. He blocked a Wilson punt, allowing Capistrano Valley to take over on the Wilson 11-yard line.

“The blocked punt was key,” said Patton.

It also was a payback of sorts for an earlier Cougar snafu in the second quarter, when quarterback Sam Gaines, on first and five at the Wilson 28, passed the ball into the hands of Mijo Johnson for a touchback.

“We have to eliminate those mistakes,” Patton said.

But all in all, it was a handsome payoff for Capistrano Valley (1-1), which had put in a lot of extra practice time during the week to prepare for this game.

“We worked a lot of overtime,” said Geiss. “We persevered through that mental exercise called practice . . . That and we didn’t want to go 0-2.”

Not if the offensive line had anything to say about it. The Cougars opened up countless holes for Geiss and gave Gaines plenty of time to find receivers.

Gaines finished with 12 completions on 20 attempts, including two for touchdowns. With 1:31 left in the first quarter, Gaines connected with Gabe Payne on a 15-yard pass play. The touchdown, for the 7-0 lead, came one play after Payne was double covered on a similar route.

The Cougars increased the lead to 14-0 with 1:08 remaining in the first half. This time, Gaines moved Capistrano Valley 49 yards in eight plays, capping the drive with a six-yard touchdown pass to Sepeher Fallah.

The Cougar defense held Wilson quarterback Mike Martin to five of 17 in passing for 61 yards. Running back Bennie Harris only rushed for 58 yards on 17 carries.

Geiss also led the Cougars in receiving with five catches for 41 yards. Not that he showed any fatigue.

“It’s great when you see things click,” Geiss said. “You get your second wind.”