Two fumble recoveries turned into a pair of third-quarter touchdowns as San Juan Hills broke the game open and got past Artesia, 38-13, in a nonleague game Friday night at Artesia High.
The Stallions (3-0) held a 21-13 halftime lead before Kyle Moses recovered a fumble by Artesia. That resulted in a 10-yard scoring pass from Jacob Gibson to Curren Lapes with just under seven minutes remaining in the third period.
Kyle Mucerino then pounced on another Pioneers fumble.
No sooner had the Stallions regained possession than Gibson connected with Mucerino for a 35-yard TD strike. It was the third scoring pass for Gibson and San Juan Hills pulled out to a 35-13 advantage.
Artesia (1-2) scored on its first possession with a 25-yard pass from Francisco Galan to Tytus Simmons.
It was the second consecutive week that the Pioneers had gotten an early lead, only to let it get away.
Brad Kremer’s 1-yard touchdown run late in the first quarter gave the Stallions a 7-6 lead, which increased on a 25-yard interception return by Brennan Walsh.
San Juan Hills tallied 315 yards on offense and after allowing 244 yards to Artesia in the first half, limited the Pioneers to 83 second-half yards.