Domination by Balboa on both sides of the ball

A shutout is one thing. But three defensive scores also?

Balboa’s football team definitely got defensive Saturday during a 45-0 nonleague win over visiting Harbor-Santa Cruz. John Lui and Andy Salazar picked up fumbles and returned them for touchdowns, and Caden Deguzman added a picksix as the Buccaneers improved to 2-0. They haven’t given up a point following a 47-0 openinggame win over LynbrookSan Jose on Aug. 24.

“It’s all a team effort,” said Balboa first-year coach Fred Velasquez. “We’re swarming and gang-tackling and stripping the ball. It’s been impressive.”

Middle linebackers Xavier Haro and Eddie Colon have been extremely active, the coach said. But it was Liu who scooped up a fumble and rambled five yards for a score to make it 10-0 in the second quarter. On Harbor’s next possession, Deguzman returned an interception 25 yards to make it 17-0.

The offense got going after that, with quarterback Brandon Norori completing touchdown passes of 30 and 25 yards to Armonni Wolridge and Anthony Nunez adding a 60-yard TD run. Salazar capped the scoring with a 35-yard fumble return late in the third quarter.

Balboa will get two key transfers who had to sit out 30 days by CIF rules and eight other players who haven’t played.

“Once we’re at full strength, we should be in really good shape,” Velasquez said.

No. 4 Antioch 47, Marin Catholic-Kentfield 28: Dwight Turner (19 carries, 136 yards) and Jaysn Wade (17, 114) rushed for two touchdowns each and despite turning the ball over on its first two possessions, the Panthers (5-0) never trailed in the first meeting between the programs.

Willem Karnthong completed a 65-yard touchdown to Dejuan Butler and ran for another as Antioch took advantage of three Marin Catholic turnovers by scoring three fourth-quarter touchdowns.

The Wildcats (1-3) outgained Antioch 488-375 but made too many mistakes to beat the highpowered Panthers. MC quarterback Gaven Cooke accounted for 392 yards, completing 10 of 20 passes for 227 yards and two scores, including an 81yarder to Vaughn Mauterer. Cooke also rushed 25 times for 165 yards. Mateo Perez rushed 11 times for 93 yards and touchdowns of 37 and 13 yards in defeat.

“We made some errors, but made enough big plays to pull it out,” Antioch offensive coordinator Brett Dudley.

Rio Vista 54, Galileo 30: In a rematch of the Northern California 6-A championship last year, Ryan Hurley (4, 1 and 32 yards) and Quin McGill (2, 4 and 4) rushed for three touchdowns each as the visiting Rams (4-1) reversed the 2017 result.

Hurley scored the first three TDs of the game for Rio Vista, which lost 21-14 at home to Galileo last year, and the Rams never trailed despite two touchdown runs by Jimmie Edwards (5 and 55 yards) and a 69-yard TD run by Yarvell Smith. Ronald Fox added a long kickoff return for a score and completed a 22-yard TD pass to Reese Bickart for the Lions (2-1).

Smith, the reigning Academic Athletic Association Player of the Year, hurt his knee in the first half and played sparingly in the second. Galileo coach Mark Huynh didn’t offer that as an excuse. “They out-hit us and out-coached us,” Huynh said. “We couldn’t stop their run game. We weren’t ready for their heavy hitting. They played tough. They earned it.”