San Marin shines bright under the lights
This past year has been dim for prep athletes in Marin County as sports were put on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic. But Saturday night at Mead Field was a particularly bright spot for the San Marin High football team as the Mustangs were granted a special legal reprieve to play under the lights at their home field for the only second time.
San Marin scored early and often, easily dispatching Terra Linda, 48-8.
“It was great playing under the lights, especially for these seniors,” San Marin running back Justin Guin said. “We’ve been looking forward to these lights for over two years now. It just got us going to play under these lights. It’s a better atmosphere at night, for me. I hope we can resolve it and play all of our home games under the lights next year, on Friday or Saturday nights.”
Like the current running through the stadium lights, Guin was electric with a fourtouchdown effort.
“He’s great,” junior running back Aidyn Gendel said about his backfield partner. “He’s silent, but deadly. That kid is a hard worker. He’s a great running back. Great defender. Just does it all.”
The Mustangs were up 14-0 in the blink of an eye. It only took four plays for San Marin to find the end zone on its opening drive, with Guin’s 14-yard touchdown run putting the hosts ahead 7-0 within the first 90 seconds.
Following junior cornerback
Harry Hughes’ strip-sack of Trojans’ quarterback Zach Cauz on the ensuing drive, the Mustangs had the ball at their opponent’s 18-yard line. A 13-yard catch by junior running back Nico Lofrano set up a 5-yard touchdown run by Guin with 9 minutes, 35 seconds left in the first quarter to quickly extend the lead to 14-0.
Gendel extended the lead again with a dazzling 57-yard touchdown run, breaking a slew of tackles en route to pulling his team ahead 21-0 at the 2:42 mark in the first quarter.
The Mustangs were able to force a three-and-out from the Trojans on the next drive, and again their offense quickly found their way to the end zone. A 27yard run by Lofrano and 35yard catch by senior wide receiver Robbie Rees put the Mustangs at the 1-yard line. Guin scored on the next play to make it 28-0 early in the second quarter.
Guin wasn’t quite done yet, though.
With 4:39 left in the quarter, Guin took an inside handoff and cut right upfield before unleashing a devastating stutter step that sent a Trojan defender to the ground. Guin kept running until he found the end zone, scoring on a 75yard run to put the Mustangs ahead 35-0. That was the last time Guin touched the ball, finishing with 124 yards and four touchdowns on eight carries. Gendel (five carries for 82 yards) sat for the second half, too.
It was another monster game for Guin, who is now up to 502 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns on 59 carries for the season.
The Mustangs added on two more scores in the second half, which featured a running clock. Senior running back Travis Briggs
scored on a 19-yard touchdown run with 3:11 left in the third quarter. After a Terra Linda fumble on the ensuing kickoff, Lofrano scored from 5 yards out to make it 48-0 near the end of the third.
The Trojans were hard pressed to move the ball downfield — with 22 yards being their longest play of the game — but they put together a scoring drive in the fourth quarter. Cauz capped an eight-play drive with a 5-yard touchdown run. Running back John Valasquez’s two-point conversion was successful as well.
But it was all Mustangs in this rare nighttime affair — as a team, San Marin rushed for 363 yards on 26 carries. While the game lost its competitive juice early on, the setting was still special for the players.
“It felt like a dream,” Gendel said. “Really felt like a dream. It was really fun, man. Especially seeing all the seniors happy to be out here. It’s just a great experience all around.”