Pacifica Gets a Jump in League Race

It’s a little early for a celebration, but Pacifica went a long way toward claiming the Garden Grove League title Thursday night with a sloppy, but impressive, 28-14 victory over preseason-favorite Santiago.

Pacifica tailback Jared Kemp, who single-handedly destroyed the Cavaliers by rushing for 234 yards and three touchdowns in 30 carries, knew the game was big, even if it was only the league opener.

“When we started the week we thought this would pretty much determine who’d win league,” Kemp said.

Neither Pacifica (3-1, 1-0) nor Santiago (2-2, 0-1) played its best game. The teams combined for nearly 200 yards in penalties and six turnovers. But Santiago had five of the turnovers and all but two were costly.

The Cavaliers’ first turnover, a fumble by quarterback Brian Pilkington, gave Pacifica a 14-7 second-quarter lead when Pacifica’s Ramon Gutierrez fell on it in the end zone. Their third turnover, a second-quarter fumble by running Brandan Perry at Pacifica’s 11, cost Santiago a chance to tie it at halftime. Then Perry’s muffed punt at his 15 with 90 seconds left and Santiago trailing 21-14 ended the Cavaliers hopes of a last-minute comeback.

But Pilkington and Perry’s miscues weren’t the whole story. Pilkington’s second-half heroics gave Santiago a chance to win--he completed three of six passes for 53 yards a touchdown--and Perry rushed for 160 yards in 20 carries.

The rest of the story was Kemp and the Pacifica offensive line, which opened some gaping holes for Kemp, fullback Javon Smith (45 yards in five carries) and quarterback Joey Fuske (27 yards in five carries). Kemp’s 13-yard run tied the score at seven, his one-yard run gave the Mariners a 21-7 third-quarter lead and his 13-yard run clinched the game in the final minute.

“Before the game, Kemp just scared the heck out of me,” Santiago Coach Ben Haley said. “We knew we had to get to him before he got to us and we didn’t do that.”

Said Pacifica Coach Bill Craven said he had a feeling Kemp would have a big night.

“We saw the films and we saw that everybody ran a lot on them, so we figured we could too,” Craven said. “They’re big up front, but they’re pretty slow.”