GARDEN GROVE – Two plays was all it took for Pacifica quarterback Ben Jefferson to leave a lasting impression on Garden Grove, and his first run was a sign of what was to come.
Jefferson ran for 196 yards and four touchdowns as Pacifica (2-2) rolled to a 38-7 victory over Garden Grove at Bolsa Grande High.
The one-two combination of Jefferson and Raul Balderas, who rushed for a game-high 200 yards, was simply uncontainable.
The Mariners took the early lead on the second play from scrimmage as Jefferson faked a handoff to Balderas and kept the ball, shed a few tacklers and sprinted 70 yards for a touchdown.
Garden Grove (2-2) stayed in the game early on with a pair of takeaways as the Pacifica aerial offense struggled to take off. Jefferson misfired on four of his first five pass attempts, but the Mariners still led 7-0 at the end of the first quarter.
Midway through the second quarter, Corey Bell gave Pacifica a 10-point lead with a 30-yard field goal.
Pacifica added another scoring drive to end the first half.
Facing fourth-and-5 at the Argonauts 25-yard line, Nate Deaton took a reverse for a 12-yard gain that kept the drive alive. Jefferson scored on the next play and increased the Mariners’ advantage to 17-0 at halftime.
Pacifica drove into the Garden Grove red zone but they were penalized on back-to-back plays. Despite the mishaps Jefferson was still able to add to the lead by finding Syrus Collins in the corner of the end zone for a 28-yard TD reception.
Balderas and Jefferson continued to rack up the yardage in the third quarter and Jefferson went on to score twice more on runs of 39 and 41 yards.
The Argonauts avoided the shutout when backup QB Cristian Marquez hit Adam Johnson for a 33-yard touchdown pass late in the fourth quarter.
