Trojans clobber St. Mary's 56-35

After playing a pair of top-25 football teams in the state in southern California, Oak Ridge played host on Friday to St. Mary's, annually one the top-10 schools in northern California and beat them convincingly, 56-35. The Trojans scored five touchdowns out of six offensive possessions in the first half and ended the half with a pick-six, as they led comfortably 42-21 at the break. The Trojans did it via the big play, or more specifically, the big pass. Quarterback Nick Johnson threw three long touchdown passes to Isaac Pierce in the first half; striking for distances of 24, 65 and 50 yards, as Pierce caught three balls for three scores and 139 yards by halftime. Johnson also scored on a 17-yard touchdown run. "This was a big bounce back," said Johnson, who completed 7-of-13 passes for 161 yards and three touchdowns. "The offensive line played amazing, giving up no sacks. It was their best game of the year. The receivers were great; Isaac had himself a night. They were playing man so we were going to take some shots. I feel like our guys are better than their guys. I had confidence in my guys and my line." The game was tied at 14 late in the first quarter, but the Trojans outscored St. Mary's four touchdowns to one by halftime. Two passes to Pierce and a seven-yard run by Tyler Andujar. St. Mary's punched a touchdown in with less than a minute before halftime and tried to score again after recovering an onside kick, but quarterback Jaden Galvan's pass was intercepted by Keith Erickson and the Oak Ridge lineman returned it 42 yards for a touchdown, as the Trojans led by three touchdowns at the break. "It was part of the game plan to go deep," Pierce said. "Coach wants to get everyone involved and we took advantage of all of our athletes and aired it out." In the second half, the Trojans turned to the run game. In the first half, they struggled a bit in the run game, as Andujar only gained 28 yards on nine carries. In the second half, however, Andujar picked up 115 yards on 12 carries, finishing the game with 143 yards and one second-half touchdown run. Pierce also scored his fourth touchdown of the game on a 21-yard run. "We played well tonight," Oak Ridge coach Casey Taylor said. "We had some real explosive plays and Isaac had some big plays. I'm happy with how we ran the ball in the second half. We knew we'd have to score some points, but I didn't know if we were capable of scoring 56. "Defensively, we played well. The interception before halftime, the pick-six, that really got us going." Johnson also gave credit to the defense. "Our defense had two takeaways (interceptions by Jasen Womack and Erickson), that's big time," Johnson said. "The pick-six gave us huge momentum at the half. Added Pierce, "I think we can do better on defense. We won this game, but by the end of the season we've got to lock in. We'll get back in the lab on Monday and work it day by day." The Trojans opened the season with a 40-7 win over Frontier before losing to Mission Hills, 24-13, but those games helped the Trojans in the win over St. Mary's. "No doubt about it," Taylor said. "I'm really proud of our guys. We lost a close one versus Mission Hills and you start to question what you're doing, but to come back and score 50 points and beat a good St. Mary's team before league starts is awesome. We haven't seen No. 3 (Kenneth Moore III), but we've seen guys like him. We've seen good quarterbacks, one who's going to Penn State. We've seen St. Mary's size. We've 2-1 against three top-25 teams in the state and now everyone's back at 0-0 for league play." Added Pierce, "Our first two games definitely prepared us for this one. Losing that last game really motivated us to win this one." Johnson said the team overcame adversity. "We handled adversity well tonight," Johnson said. "We went three and out a couple of times, but we came back and scored. Our defense gave up some points, but then came back and got stops too." Up next for the Trojans is Del Oro, a team that Taylor used to coach for a long time a handful of years ago. "We're right where we want to be," Taylor told his team after the game. "Del Oro will probably be undefeated and they will be confident. They're not going to be scared of us. We will need a great week of practice next week."