GARDEN GROVE – Garden Grove improved to 3-0 in league play with a dominating 76-0 victory over host Bolsa Grande on Thursday night.
“We’re the defending CIF champions,” Garden Grove coach Ricardo Cepeda said. “And some people are forgetting that a little bit.”
The tone was set early as sophomore T.J. Taufetee returned the opening kickoff 70 yards for a touchdown.
The Argonauts (6-2 overall) had a new quarterback as junior Fitu Lupematasila took over for injured senior Danny Avila. Lupematasila led with his feet more than his arm, gaining 140 rushing yards and two touchdowns.
The Argonauts utilized the option throughout the first half, forcing the Matadors (0-8, 0-3 Garden Grove) to pick their poison between Lupematasila and senior running back Jordan Antunez.
Antunez entered with 1,248 rushing yards and 18 rushing touchdowns in his first six games. Thursday, he ran the ball six times and found the end zone on four of those attempts. Antunez totaled 142 rushing yards, including an 83-yard touchdown run. He added 43 more yards from two receptions.
Lupematasila was 3 of 5 passing for 71 yards. However, he never really let it fly. Every completion was made behind the line of scrimmage with long gains after the catch. Cepeda said his team didn’t pass much because of the lopsided score.
Garden Grove scored 14 points in the third quarter despite their offense never taking the field. Senior linebacker Derek Petrutis returned an interception 27 yards for a score and James Ownby, in his first game on the varsity team, recovered a fumble in the end zone during a Matadors punt play.
Junior Mario Moemoe also returned a punt 52 yards for a touchdown.
Senior quarterback Eduardo Arreola was 8 of 17 passing with 49 yards for the Matadors. Elian Gallegos had 51 rushing yards on 12 attempts.
