SAN CLEMENTE – It’s not often that a football game becomes a formality after the first quarter, but No. 5 San Clemente made that happen Friday night.
San Clemente scored on its first three plays and Jack Sears threw five touchdown passes in the first quarter as the Tritons rolled to a 63-3 victory over Roosevelt of Los Angeles in a nonleague game at San Clemente High.
After a pregame flyover by O.C. Sheriff helicopters, San Clemente (2-1) came out firing like the howitzer cannons parked next to the field on the school’s annual military appreciation night.
On the first play, Sears aired a ball over the entire Roosevelt (0-3) defense to a sprinting Chase Berman for a 60-yard touchdown.
The Duke-committed Sears followed with a short strike to Brandon Reaves, who sprinted and weaved through the secondary for a 49-yard score.
After Jesse Mikulec recovered a fumble, Austin Whitsett scored on the short field with a 14-yard run for a 21-0 lead.
San Clemente put an actual drive together on its next possession with seven plays capped by an 8-yard TD reception by Keith Jones. Sears hit Berman for a 13-yard score on the next drive.
In his only quarter of work, Sears finished 10 of 11 passing for 223 yards.
In between each offensive series, the San Clemente defense was a wall, holding Roosevelt to five consecutive drives of three plays or less to open the game.
San Clemente racked up five sacks with two each from Cameron Beauvais and Will Eldridge and pulled in two interceptions, including a 45-yard interception return touchdown by Taylor Scott in the third quarter for a 56-3 lead.
Roosevelt finished 9-of-23 passing for 79 yards and ran for just 10 yards on 24 carries.
While the win was a huge gain for San Clemente, the Tritons also suffered a big loss as tight end Issac Rex went down with an injured right knee in the first quarter.
As Sears hit Jones with their first touchdown connection for a 28-0 lead, the BYU commit fell to the ground shortly after the snap and laid there for rest of the play clutching his knee.
The 6-foot-5 235-pound senior, ranked No. 31 in the Register’s Hot 150, had to be helped off the field with his knee being wrapped and elevated on the training table for the rest of the first half.
