DANA POINT – Pacifica used a balance attack to roll past Dana Hills, 49-34, in a nonleague game Friday at Dana Hills.
It was the first win of the season for the Mariners (1-2), who grabbed a 14-0 lead in the first quarter, behind two rushing touchdowns from Raul Balderas, and never trailed against the Dolphins (0-3).
Dana Hills leaned heavily on its workhorse running back Jake Baldiviez, who finished with 162 yards on a game-high 26 carries.
He scored the Dolphins’ first touchdown, with 11:56 left in the second quarter, cutting their deficit to seven points.
Pacifica quickly pushed its lead to 28-7 in the quarter by relying on the connection between quarterback Ben Jefferson and 6-foot-2 wideout Matt Molensko.
The junior receiver hauled in an incredible catch at the 1-yard line to set up a quarterback sneak by Jefferson for a touchdown.
With 1:41 left before halftime, Molensko jumped over multiple Dana Hills defenders for a 36-yard touchdown.
The Dolphins struck back to make it 28-14 with 24.7 seconds left in the half. Quarterback Cory Cisowski drove his team down the field and struck for a touchdown.
Big-chunk plays to start the second half allowed Pacifica to extend its lead. Molensko caught a 56-yard pass on the opening drive.
After a methodical drive by Dana Hills that spanned over six minutes and resulted in a field goal, Balderas broke loose on the first carry of the next drive, going 80 yards down the sideline for a touchdown. Pacifica extended its lead to 42-17.
Dana Hills added two touchdowns in the fourth quarter.
Jefferson completed 10 of 17 passes for 242 yards and two touchdowns.
