60 looks nifty against Warriors

The Saddleback football team improved to 4-0 on Saturday night with a 60-33 win at El Camino College.  The Gauchos scored early and often, rolling up a program record 679 yards of total offense.

Saddleback fired out of the gate with 22 points in the first 6:33 of the game.  The Gauchos drove down the field on the opening drive and scored when Jacob Gibson found C.J. Harris for a 13-yard touchdown and a 7-0 lead with 11:54 remaining in the quarter.

Saddleback quickly got the ball back when El Camino fumbled on its first snap from center and the Gauchos pounced on the ball at the 12 yard line.  Saddleback cashed in on its first play as Remy Wasserbach scored from 12 yards out, with the Gauchos converting on a two-point conversion and a 15-0 lead with 11:31 left in the quarter.

It went from bad to worse for El Camino on the next drive when quarterback David Sills completed a pass to Zaire Andre, who had the ball stripped away from him by Justin Nicholls at the Gaucho 38.  Nicholls returned the ball 35 yards to the Warrior 27 and Saddleback was back in business.  Five plays later Gibson again found Harris from eight yards away and the Gauchos had a 22-0 lead with only 6:33 off the clock.  Kicker Aaron Ball would later add a 44-yard field goal with 3:54 remaining, giving Saddleback a 25-0 lead before any of the fans had finished a bag of popcorn.

Things got chippy in the second quarter and a number of players got dinged up in the process.  Saddleback went to the bullpen with Nick Robinson, who promptly tacked on two more scores by hitting Chris Spiering with a 33-yard score and Logan Garrick with a 58-yarder, giving the Gauchos a 46-7 lead with 3:09 remaining in the half.

El Camino closed the gap to 46-26 in the third quarter thanks to a Saddleback turnover.  The Gauchos again flexed their muscles, going 70 yards on nine plays with Edward Vander scoring from eight yards with 2:16 remaining in the quarter to silence the locals.  Saddleback would add a late score by Leslie Byerly, who scampered eight yards for a 60-26 lead with 3:30 remaining.

The 60 points by Saddleback was the most points scored since putting up 66 on Grossmont during the 2012 campaign.  The 679 yards of offense breaks the program record of 628 against Victor Valley College in in 2011.  The combined 93 points by both teams ranks seventh all time in Gaucho football history.

Saddleback finished with 382 yards passing and 297 yards rushing.  Robinson finished 20-for-30 for 302 yards passing and two touchdowns.  Vander led the running game with 86 yards and two scores on the ground.  The Gauchos completed passes to 12 different players, with Deondre Moore leading the team with 102 yards on four receptions. 

The Saddleback defense was aggressive for a fourth straight game, forcing three turnovers.  Kyle Adams had a big outing, making 10 total tackles with 1.5 tackles-for-loss.  The Gauchos have forced eight turnovers with 18 sacks through four weeks.

Saddleback will try to make it five in a row next Saturday when they host Ventura College.  Game time is scheduled for 6:00 PM.  For those that cannot make it, the game will be broadcast live on the Gaucho Sports Network.