Oxnard stuns San Marcos with 42-0 rout

BY COLBY FRAZIER
DAILY SOUND STAFF WRITER

Hampered by penalties, turnovers and a general lack of firepower on offense and defense, the San Marcos High School Football team was shutout last night at Valley Stadium in a 42-0 rout by Oxnard.
It didn’t matter that the stands were packed with rowdy Royals fans, or that it was homecoming night, or that more than 20 former homecoming queens from as far back as 1957 -- the year of the school’s inception -- were on hand for the school’s 50th anniversary.
The Royals just couldn’t get it going, falling to 0-4 on the season, a fact that left Royal’s Head Coach Dare Holdren pretty much speechless.


“I’ve got no comment,” he said before marching into the locker room.
The Royals’ offensive highlights were few and far between, and the home team’s defense had no answer for the Yellowjackets’ Sam McCowan, who racked up four touchdowns and more than 150 rushing yards.
McCowan weaved through the Royals’ defense flawlessly, putting the Yellowjackets on the board early in the first quarter with a 10-yard stomp into the end zone that capped an 80-yard, six-play drive.
As time expired in the first quarter, McCowan punched into the end zone for the second time after a 25-yard scamper to give the Yellowjackets a comfortable 14-0 lead.
While the Royals finished the majority of their possessions with a punt, or turned the ball over on a fourth down, the Yellowjackets maintained stellar field position throughout and were never forced to punt. They did however turn the ball over after a failed fourth-down attempt in the first quarter.
“They’re coming together as a group,” said Oxnard Head Coach Mark Beckham of his squad, which now has a 2-2 record. “We’re hitting all of our cylinders, we were just really playing good.”
San Marcos managed to keep Oxnard silent for the majority of the second quarter, until McCowan found a hole and scampered into the left side of the end zone with 39 seconds remaining, giving the Yellowjackets a 21-0 lead.
San Marcos took over with 35 seconds remaining, went through three quick plays and punted it away with 6.6 seconds left in the quarter.
As one radio announcer in the press box predicted Oxnard quarterback Dasmen Stewart would go to the air and try to find McCowan in the end zone, Stewart downed the ball and allowed time to expire.
The Royals began the first half with ball, but managed to only get one play off before quarterback Sean Kerr fumbled the snap and a dozen Yellowjackets swarmed onto the ball, recovering on the San Marcos 15-yard-line.
Oxnard also got two snaps off, but Stewart kept the ball on the second and ticked off an 11-yard touchdown run to drive the score to 28-0.
San Marcos fans got their first chance to cheer after Royals wide receiver Michael Hodson sprinted a 45-yard kickoff return that left the Royals with a first and 10 at the Oxnard 45 yard line.
The Royals failed to move the ball however, and punted it away just more than one minute later.
Oxnard ran four quick plays before Stewart handed the ball to McCowan, who took off on a 62-yard touchdown run, his fourth and final of the evening, which put Oxnard up 35-0.
Despite the score, the Royals came back onto the field ready to fight.
Kerr guided the offense on an 81-yard drive that put the Royals within 9 yards of the goal line before turning it over on downs.
On the drive, Kerr nailed Garrett Brown for a 40-yard pass on third down and seven and later found a wide open Shawn Adame for a 28-yard gain, which also came on a third down and seven situation.
Oxnard took over with 1:53 remaining in the third quarter and ran 13 plays that consumed five minutes of the second half.
The Royals’ failed efforts to stop the Yellowjackets on this drive was compounded by the fact that Oxnard’s second string executed the majority of the plays, which wrapped up with a 1 yard dive into the end zone by Oxnard backup quarterback Frankie Garcia.
The Royals controlled the ball the remainder of the time and accumulated five first downs before time expired.
“We’ve been working hard in practice everyday, it’s coming together as a team,” said McCowan, who noted it was the first four-touchdown performance of his career. “It’s a great feeling.”
San Marcos will look to turn things around against Arroyo Grande next week.