St. Francis starting quarterback Javier Fonseca used his legs to record four rushing touchdowns in a 48-20 crushing win over Seaside in Pacific Coast Athletic League Mission Division–North action Sept. 28.
The Sharks star player also had a pair of interceptions on defense, which forced a total of six turnovers—four interceptions and two fumbles.
“We were dominating on the D-line, and it allows our linebackers to flow freely and get a bunch of tackles,” Fonseca said. “And we won the turnover margin, so it’s a big part of it, too.”
St. Francis senior Nick Paz and his fellow linemen were in control of the trenches most of the afternoon. They pancaked defenders to create open lanes for Fonseca, while also causing havoc for Seaside quarterback Hezekiah Turner who felt pressured throughout the afternoon.
Paz said the Spartans have a much smaller roster compared to the 2023 season, in which Seaside beat St. Francis, 49-28. Yet, he still knew not to underestimate them.
“I think we took last year kind of personally, and I know I came out aggressive. I’m not happy with Seaside, especially what happened last year,” Paz said. “But I think we all put in a lot of work in the offseason and we just kind of knew that we got to be better to really have a good season.”
Paz, who recorded one quarterback sack, along with seniors Nic Ibarra and Marcus Gonzalez were rewarded with cardboard crowns from Burger King, and food, for being the anchors in Saturday’s Homecoming win.
“You can’t say enough about the three seniors up there, Nick, Nic and Marcus, they’ve been the leaders up there,” St. Francis coach John Ausman said. “And bringing in Adan [Sarabia-Aguilar], who’s a sophomore, and Jacob Rocha at center, who’s a junior, they’ve done a great job.”
The Sharks have now won four straight and are off to a 1-0 start in league play, which is huge for them after struggling in 2023.
“Last year we got dominated, straight up. But we’re different this year and it feels good,” Fonseca said. “The attitude, just the demeanor of the team. We want to win, we want to come out and play. We want to come out and punch you in the mouth.”
But it was the Sharks who got punched in the mouth first. Seaside senior Julius Escort returned the opening kick off for a 90-yard touchdown, stunning both the Sharks sideline and the home crowd.
“I’ll be honest, I got a little nervous. I know that sometimes we could shut down. We really shut down last year a lot, so I was wondering what would happen,” Paz said. “But the O-line and the other boys, we all said ‘Lets go, one score.’ We just kind of came out, we did our thing and it worked out.”
Fonseca and company responded right back as the Sharks marched down the field on their opening drive. It was capped off with a 29-yard touchdown where he plowed into a defender and bounced off as he sprinted into the end zone.
It also didn’t take long for the Sharks to get the ball back in their hands after Seaside’s Kingston Atalima lost a fumble on his own 30-yard line.
St. Francis capitalized on the turnover as Fonseca once again called his own number, running from 29 yards out for his second touchdown of the first half.
“[Fonseca’s] a great athlete,” Paz said. “I just try to have his back and I try to make sure no one gets to him. If he’s still up, standing, then we got it.”
The Sharks never looked back.
Turner tossed an interception to St. Francis’ Andrew Zamora. One play later, Joseph Dayritt made a couple of cuts and zipped past Seaside’s defense for a 30-yard TD.
Coy Jordan then added a 2-yard score that gave the Sharks a 28-7 lead going into halftime. The scoring drive was set up on a 60-yard run by Dayritt, followed by an amazing catch by Jacob Jimenez, who leaped over his defender to snatch the ball as he fell to the turf in the red zone.
“We’ve just been emphasizing all season to come out and start fast,” Fonseca said. “And we got punched in the mouth on the first play, they took it all the way back, but we found a way to rally and just dominate from there.”
Fonseca continued his dominance on the field after recording the first of his two interceptions in the beginning of the third quarter. Moments later, he rushed in for his third score of the afternoon that put the game out of reach at 35-7.
The Spartans wouldn’t go down that easy, though. They responded with a nice-looking scoring drive after Escort hauled in a 3-yard reception for a TD.
Seaside’s defense also provided a spark when they sacked Fonseca for a fourth time, forcing the Sharks to punt.
St. Francis senior defensive back Evan Dyer made sure to extinguish any type of comeback with a pick six, while Chax Gottlieb-Maier recovered a fumble that led to a 22-yard rushing touchdown by Fonseca.
Escort scored his third touchdown for Seaside on a 15-yard reception.
“We said the one person who could really beat us is No. 3, and we kicked it right to [Escort], and he beat us,” Ausman said. “He’s a heck of a player and our plan was to try to limit his carries as much as possible. I think we did a good after settling down.”
Up next, St. Francis (4-1, 1-0) plays at Watsonville (3-2, 1-0) on Oct. 4 at 7:30pm.
Prep Football Week 5 Scoreboard
Friday (Sept. 27)
Hollister 35, at Aptos 14
Pajaro Valley 28, at Marina 19
Saturday (Sept. 28)
At St. Francis 48, Seaside 20
At Watsonville 36, Monte Vista Christian 15
