Espino's three TDs lead No. 8 San Clemente

SAN CLEMENTE - San Clemente coach Eric Patton said his team executed its game plan on both sides of the ball Friday night after the No. 8 Tritons (3-0) defeated Santa Fe of Santa Fe Springs, 21-7, in nonleague play at San Clemente High.

“We played very well tonight,” Patton said. “I’m real happy. We had two six-minute drives in the first half, and we scored and we kept the ball out of Aaron Turner’s hands.”

Turner entered the game with 354 yards rushing in the Chiefs’ (2-1) two previous victories. But aside from the opening drive of the second half, the senior running back couldn’t break loose. He scored his team’s only touchdown on that drive by plunging in from a yard out to cut the Tritons lead to 14-7 with 5:16 left in the third quarter.

David Espino’s third touchdown of the game - an 18-yard run - pushed the margin back to 21-7 for the Tritons with 7:19 left.

Espino scored on a 1-yard run on the game’s opening drive to give San Clemente a 7-0 advantage. He added a 5-yard run in the second quarter that made it 14-0.

The junior running back has scored seven touchdowns in the past two weeks. He earned his first 100-yard game of his career Friday night by finishing with 101 yards on 18 carries.