Pacifica goes to air in victory
FULLERTON- Pacifica reached the playoffs by running the ball successfully during the regular season.
In a CIF-SS Southwest Division first-round playoff game against host Fullerton on Friday night, the Mariners did most of their scoring through the air and came away with a 27-20 victory.
The Mariners (6-4-1) will play host to Trabuco Hills in the second round.
Mariners’ quarterback Mario Nava completed 15 of 24 passes for 151 yards and three touchdowns to key the offense.
“They didn’t let us run the ball the way we’ve been doing,” Mariners’ coach Marcello Giuliano said. “We put it on our quarterback and we had three receivers step up.”
Wesley Harris had seven receptions for 64 yards, including touchdown catches of 12 and 13 yards and Cody Johnson had a 20-yard touchdown reception.
The Mariners also forced Fullerton (8-3) into poor field position on its first-half possessions and were able keep Indians’ running back Joe Hill from being a factor until late in the contest.
Hill finished with 157 yards and a touchdown on 20 carries, but most of those yards came in the second half.
With the Mariners leading 21-6, Hill’s 62-yard touchdown run got the Indians to within a touchdown with 2:58 remaining in the game.
