Sophomore Budde Takes to the Air for High-Flying San Clemente

San Clemente quarterback Beau Budde gave South Coast League coaches something else to think about.

Budde has already proved he can direct the fifth-ranked Tritons unorthodox fly offense--just ask Esperanza.

Thursday night, he showed off his arm in a 52-21 victory over visiting Long Beach Millikan.

Budde, a 6-2 sophomore who is replacing the injured Dan Coviello, passed for 165 yards and a touchdown by completing 12 of 18 passes. He also ran for two scores in the victory, keyed by a 28-point third-quarter outburst.

“Since we knew we could run the fly, we thought we’d pass a little more so we could have the perfect storm, offense, defense and special teams,” said Budde, who sprained his right ankle early in the fourth quarter and did not return.

Running back Chris Smith was the beneficiary of the Tritons’ offense, catching six passes for 115 yards. Smith also rushed for 72 yards and a touchdown in nine carries.

Entering the game, Budde had passed for only 66 yards in three games and was not listed among the county leaders. Running back Colin Mahoney pitched in with his third consecutive 100-yard rushing game. He had 101 yards and two touchdowns in 12 carries.

San Clemente (3-1) trailed at halftime, 14-10, because of two big plays by Millikan, a 34-yard interception return by Dante Vaughn off a dropped Budde pass and a 75-yard bomb from Alberto Martinez to Jason Leggett. But three third-quarter fumbles doomed the Rams and opened the floodgates for San Clemente, which accumulated 500 yards of offense.