GARDEN GROVE – Pacifica used a dominant defense and big plays on offense to beat Crean Lutheran 40-13 Thursday in an Empire League game at Garden Grove High.
The Mariners defense held Crean Lutheran (4-3, 0-2) to 104 yards of offense and just 35 yards in the first half.
“Our defensive line played really well,” Pacifica coach Vinny Lopez said. “We are just bigger than those guys right now. It’s the same thing we did last week. You can see that we get it done in the weight room.”
Pacifica (4-3, 2-0) scored four of its six touchdowns on plays greater than 20 yards. Rai Sagastume was responsible for three of those touchdowns: runs of 25 and 81 yards and a 24-yard reception.
Sagastume rushed for 197 yards on 20 carries and caught four passes for 80 yards.
“He stepped up and made big plays when he had to,” Lopez said. “He’s a momentum changer. We are lucky and very happy he is on our side.”
The Mariners scored 34 points despite having to overcome 15 penalties for a total of 170 yards.
“We’ve got a lot to fix,” Sagastume said. “We have got to get ready for the teams ahead of us. But it’s wonderful to get off to a great start.”
Pacifica quarterback Sean Blake had an outstanding night before exiting the game with a knee injury late in the third quarter. Blake completed 14 of 18 passes for 219 yards and two touchdowns.
“Sean manages our offense very well,” Lopez said. “A few weeks ago, Rai (Sagastume) went down with an injury and we deflated. Tonight, we had our starting quarterback go down, our backup comes in and we still score two more (TDs). It shows that we are getting better every week and our kids are learning from every game.”
Sagastume ran for a 25-yard touchdown late in the first quarter to give Pacifica a 7-0 lead.
Blake threw a 29-yard fade pass to Bryan Leonard to put the Mariners up 14-0. Leonard caught four passes for 89 yards.
After a 24-yard touchdown pass from Blake to Sagastume, Crean Lutheran sophomore Nolan Folsom returned the ensuing kickoff 93 yards to cut Pacifica’s lead to 13.
Sagastume ran for an 81-yard touchdown to put the Pacifica lead back at 20. The two teams scored three touchdowns in 35 seconds over four plays.
Crean Lutheran only had 22 players in uniform Thursday. The Saints scored on a trick play in the fourth quarter when Jack Johnson threw a 32-yard touchdown pass to quarterback Michael Berelowitz.
“We battled. There were key moments in the game where the endurance and physicality got to us a bit,” Crean Lutheran coach Randall Reynoso said. “The 22 guys we had competed. Between last week and this week, we know what the Empire League is like now.”
Mariners running back and Savanna transfer Isaiah Blevins played in his second game of the season Thursday and was effective. Blevins rushed for 124 yards on 17 carries with two touchdowns, both in the fourth quarter to put the game away.
Pacifica has a two-game winning streak and will play Tustin next Thursday, Oct. 11. Crean will host Cypress next Friday, Oct. 12 at Portola High.