No. 1-seed Bellarmine coasts past San Benito

SAN JOSE — This one was never in doubt.

San Benito received the opening kickoff, ran three plays and gained 1 yard, punted, and Kyle Macauley returned the punt 55 yards for a touchdown.

Bellarmine College Prep never looked back.

The No. 1-seed Bells went on to beat No. 5 San Benito 40-7 in a Central Coast Section Open Division I semifinal game Friday at San Jose City College. They advance to play No. 2 Milpitas in next weekend’s CCS championship game.

Antonio Garcia scored three second-quarter touchdowns as Bellarmine led 270 at halftime.

Garcia’s first touchdown, a 30-yard run, capped a 54yard, 10-play drive.

His second touchdown, a 37-yard run in which he spun out of the grasp of two would-be tacklers, put the finishing touch on a 72-yard drive.

“The line blocking up front created huge cutback lanes,’’ Garcia said.

The punt game continued to be problematic for the Haybalers. The snap on their second punt went over the punter’s head. Another high snap near the end of the second quarter resulted in a 32-yard loss and a Bellarmine first down at the San Benito 2. Garcia scored his third touchdown on the Bells’ first play.

This is Garcia’s last year of football. He signed a letter of intent three weeks ago to play baseball for former De Anza College coach Ritchie Price at the University of Kansas.

“I’m just taking it all in,’’ Garcia said. “I’m having a great time playing with my best friends.’’

San Benito managed a net 5 yards in the first half.

“Our defense really came to play,’’ Bellarmine coach Mike Janda said. “San Benito has a very strong running game. Our guys came out and did a great job stopping their run early.’’

Bellarmine (11-1) has outscored its two playoff opponents by a combined 79-7.

San Benito (7-5) broke up the shutout and scored the first playoff points Bellarmine has allowed with 2:58 left on a 2-yard run by Hunter Nye against Bellarmine reserves.

“We’ll have a tough game next week, no doubt about it,’’ Janda said. “Milpitas has a very good team.’’

Bellarmine, which did not complete a pass all game, took the second-half kickoff and went 61 yards with Vincent Fernandez scoring on a 1-yard run.

Bellarmine’s final touchdown — a 4-yard run by backup quarterback Ike Ogbogu — was set up on a recovery of a fumbled snap on a San Benito punt at the 8-yard line.