PREP FOOTBALL ROUNDUP : Templeton Pounds Southern California Christian

Gilbert Mendez rushed 11 times for 132 yards and two touchdowns as Templeton rolled to a 41-0 victory over host Southern California Christian in a nonleague game Saturday afternoon.

Mendez’s two touchdowns came late in the fourth quarter after Templeton took a 28-0 lead. He returned a punt 50 yards for a touchdown early in the quarter, then finished with a 55-yard run with 3:14 left.

SCC (1-1) was unable to get its offense moving. The Flames were limited to five first downs.

Ken Buhler, who rushed for nearly 250 yards in SCC’s opener two weeks ago, was limited to 68 yards in 22 carries.

“They out-physicaled us,” Flame Coach Bert Esposito said. “We weren’t ready. On our best day I don’t know if we could beat them.”

Templeton took the lead midway through the first quarter when quarterback Robert Martin connected with Mike Tomlinson on a two-yard touchdown pass. The Eagles (1-1) made it 14-0 when Santos Zertuche went over left tackle from three yards.

Templeton went ahead, 21-0, when Martin threw an 11-yard pass to Jake Marquart, who scored with 1:08 left in the first half. Zertuche went in from seven yards with 8:45 left in the third to make it 28-0.

The Eagles amassed 315 yards on the ground; SCC managed only 122 yards of total offense.

In eight-man games:

Bloomington Christian 57, Liberty Christian 12 (game called mercy rule)--Liberty Christian’s Mike Winters scored two touchdowns, including a 46-yard run on a reverse, in the loss.

Winters scored his first touchdown in the first quarter, catching a 21-yard pass from Bryan Avery, tying the score, 7-7. Winters’ second touchdown came in the second quarter, cutting Bloomington Christian’s lead to 21-12.

The game was called with 1:34 into the fourth quarter because of the eight-man mercy rule.