Halftime fireworks highlighted Mira Costa’s Homecoming festivities Friday, but it was the Palos Verdes offense that exploded throughout the evening as the visiting Sea Kings defeated the hobbled Mustangs 37-0.
Mira Costa, which has been trying to play through injuries to key players, committed three turnovers and had difficulty slowing down Palos Verdes running back Stanton Gilbertson.
Gilbertson carried the ball 15 times for 217 yards and four touchdowns including scoring runs of 79 and 72 yards.
“It’s obviously fun when you can run the ball,” Gilbertson said. “Our O-line did a great job. I thought if we put in the effort, we could accomplish a win like this and I hope it carries over throughout the Bay League. We always schedule tough non-league opponents and we had some toughest losses early on, but learned from those and it helps when league starts. Getting that first league win is huge.”
Palos Verdes quarterback Steve Delcarson was 7 of 16 passing for 115 yards, connecting with wide receiver Shawn Hill five times for 93 yards.
Palos Verdes (3-3, 1-0) jumped out to an early 6-0 lead when Lance Brown scored on a 10-yard pass reception on the Sea Kings’ first possession.
On its opening drive and facing a fourth-and-7 at its own 48-yard line, Mira Costa faked a punt and Ta’utino Sione caught a pass to give the Mustangs a first down at the Palos Verdes 30 yard line.
The drive stalled when the Sea Kings defense held the Mustangs on a fourth-and-1 at the 21-yard line. Four plays later, Gilbertson burst through a hole for a 79-yard touchdown run to give Palos Verdes a 13-0 lead with 35 seconds left in the first quarter.
“The play was designed to go to the left and I saw there was a big hole up the middle,” Gilbertson said. “I just sprinted to it and it got me a touchdown.”
A Mira Costa drive gave the Mustangs a first-and-goal at the 5-yard line, but the Palos Verdes defense stiffened and, after quarterback Jacob Silvera was sacked at the 12-yard line, a short field goal attempt sailed wide to the right.
Palos Verdes capitalized going 80 yards in four plays. After an 18-yard run by Gilbertson and receptions of 16 and 36 yards by Hill, Gilbertson scored on a 9-yard run to stretch the Sea Kings’ lead to 17-0.
Kyle Coale gave Palos Verdes a 20-0 halftime lead with a 49-yard field goal with no time left on the clock.
Mira Costa (1-5, 0-1) hoped to gain a spark with the return of star running back Tre Searcy who missed the previous two games with a shoulder injury. Clearly not 100%, Searcy sat out the second half after gaining 42 yards on 12 carries.
“Mira Costa came out and hit us hard and was physical but our guys withstood it,” Palos Verdes head coach Guy Gardner said. “They went after us and made some plays when they had to, but our guys hung in there. Our defense played a really nice game. They’re (Mira Costa) not healthy and banged up. They played tough for awhile but as the game goes on it really shows. I’m happy with our effort but we have along way to go.”
Three penalties on one play gave Mira Costa a first down at the Palos Verdes 17-yard line, but Reid Helton recovered a fumble for the Sea Kings who marched down the field. Gilbertson raced around the left end for an 11-yard touchdown with 3:12 left in the third quarter.
Gilbertson finished the scoring with a 72-yard touchdown run with just over four minutes remaining in the game.
Silvera, who was sacked four times by the Palos Verdes defense, finished with 189 yards on 17-of-28 passing.
Mira Costa will look to rebound when it plays at Peninsula in a 3 p.m. game on Friday. Peninsula (3-3, 1-0) is coming off a 24-13 win at Morningside.
Michael Joncich led the Panthers rushing for 55 yards on 10 carries and adding 77 yards and a touchdown on five receptions. He also recorded two sacks for the Panther defense that held the Monarch’s standout running back Christian Williams to 142 yards on 25 carries.
Morningside (4-2, 0-1) will face another formidable defense when it hosts Redondo Friday at 7 p.m.
Redondo (2-4, 1-0) celebrated its Homecoming Game with a 32-0 shutout against visiting Inglewood. Running backs Guy Alford and Jerone Jackson led a Sea Hawk offense that rushed for 265 yards.
Alford scored on runs of 4 and 6 yards to give Redondo a 15-0 lead at halftime. The junior finished with 75 yards and three touchdowns on 13 carries.
