ORANGE COUNTY HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL PREP EXTRA : San Clemente Finally Clicks, Beats El Toro, 27-15

It took 5 1/2 quarters for San Clemente’s no-huddle offense to get the kinks worked out, but then it was off to the races. The Tritons ran up big yardage in Hawaii but only scored once in their opener. Friday night’s home opener looked like a repeat as they drove the ball inside El Toro’s 20 three times in the first quarter without scoring.

But San Clemente scored once before half and three more times in the second half to beat seventh-ranked El Toro, 27-15, behind the passing of Chris Boden, the receiving of Trevor Insley and the running of Ryan Davis. Oh, and the defense intercepted three of El Toro quarterback Steve Krupp’s passes and recovered a fumble.

Boden, who passed for a school record 371 yards in the Tritons’ opener, completed 17 of 31 passes for 273 yards and three touchdowns. Insley caught eight passes for 186 yards and two touchdowns. Davis ran 24 times for 162 yards and a touchdown.

The Tritons (1-1) piled up the numbers early too, but they couldn’t score. Boden threw an interception in the end zone on the first drive, Davis was stopped at the one on the second and Josh Jolley missed a 35-yard field goal on the third.

“I was thinking, here goes Hawaii all over again for the first quarter and a half,” San Clemente Coach Mark McElroy said. “That was ugly.”

El Toro (0-1) didn’t exactly take advantage of its early opportunities either. Krupp had one pass intercepted and tight end Brian Koupal coughed up the ball after catching a Krupp pass.

Koupal atoned for his fumble by catching a nine-yard touchdown pass from Krupp to put El Toro up 8-0 with five minutes left in the half. But Boden began clicking with his four receivers after that, and El Toro didn’t have an answer. Sam Kweskin caught a 13-yard touchdown pass from Boden to tie the score, 8-8, before half.

Then Davis scored on a four-yard run, Insley caught a 12-yard touchdown pass and Insley scampered 57 yards with a screen pass to put the game away.

“Trevor’s very, very quick,” McElroy said. “He’s got to be one of the best receivers in the county.”

Insley, who broke at least three tackles on his 57-yard touchdown reception, said he was relieved the offense started clicking.

“We just had to work out some of the problems, that’s all,” said Insley, who also intercepted a pass from his cornerback position.