San Clemente New-Look Offense Flies Past El Toro, 42-20

SAN CLEMENTE —  El Toro Coach Mike Milner called San Clemente’s new offense a wing T. San Clemente Coach Mark McElroy called it “the fly.” Whatever it was, it confused El Toro’s bewildered defense all night long.

San Clemente running back James Allen III was the main beneficiary of El Toro’s confusion as he rushed for 250 yards and two touchdowns in his first varsity game as the Tritons trounced El Toro, 42-20, Friday night in front of 3,000.

“I was having so much fun,” said Allen, who left with leg cramps in the fourth quarter. “It was great. They didn’t know where the ball was coming from. We’ve been practicing this since January.”

San Clemente rushed for 415 yards and passed for only 19, almost a complete reversal of its offensive pattern last year and much of the last five years under McElroy.

McElroy said he discovered the offense while traveling in Northern California.

“It’s kind of a hybrid,” he said. “A lot of it’s the fly. It’s an obscure offense run in the remote parts of Monterey County. You try to find things to make your team better.”

Milner didn’t think McElroy’s offense was that obscure. In fact, he had even heard of the man who invented it, Mark Speckman, who now coaches in Oregon. But he certainly wasn’t prepared for it.

“We prepared for a bastard offense,” Milner said. “We just didn’t pick the right one. That was the one offense we didn’t work on.

“It’s one of the hardest offenses you will ever have to defense. It’s misdirection and highly synchronized and there’s a lot of people moving in all directions. You didn’t know who had the ball. I’m sure our kids didn’t have a real fun time.”

Allen gained most of his yards by going in motion along the line of scrimmage, taking an inside handoff from quarterback Oscar Montecinos, then breaking inside or around end. He scored the game’s first touchdown on that play, from 37 yards away with 8 minutes 54 seconds left in the first quarter. He scored on 46-yard scamper down the sideline with 4:35 left in the third quarter to give San Clemente a 28-6 lead.

McElroy said he didn’t know if Allen’s 250 yards rushing or the team’s 415 were school records.

“We weren’t in this for records,” he said. “There’s a lot of guys carrying the ball. It’s a team offense.”

Fullback Phil Payne rushed for 73 yards and a touchdown and Montecinos had 63 yards and two touchdowns in 11 carries. He threw only five passes and completed two for 19 yards.

El Toro, which barely managed 200 yards of offense, was led by junior Sam Moore, who rushed for 110 yards and a touchdown and caught six passes for 67 yards and a touchdown.