NOVATO, Calif. - Marin Catholic traveled away for Saturday’s game to San Marin in what was expected to be an exciting match for both teams, but was left one-sided as the Wildcats blew out the Mustangs 48-2.
Marin Catholic was led by running back Matteo Perez, who had 185 rushing yards and four touchdowns. He set the tone on the first play of the game to score an 82-yard touchdown that stunned the sold-out Mustang crowd, one that was animated when the new lights at the stadium got to shine for the first time for a game.
After that touchdown by Perez, the Wildcats couldn’t be contained. They broke out for six more touchdowns in the first half and kept the Mustangs scoreless.
The Marin Catholic running game was the biggest contributor to the huge win. Besides the four touchdowns by Perez, they had two other rushing touchdowns, one by Dominic Tagliaferri which went from eight yards. The other was by Gaven Cooke, which was six yards. The only other touchdown scored by the Wildcats was by QB Michael Ingrassia to WR Blake Wilson for 26 yards near the end of the first half.
On the other side of things, San Marin’s offense couldn’t seem to get anything going. Mustang running back Dante DiMare had some big gains, but nothing seemed to work for San Marin’s offense on Saturday.
Even though the offense couldn’t seem to do anything, the Mustang defense came together in the second half. They left Marin Catholic scoreless which was surprising to many considering their 48 points in the first two quarters. San Marin brought the pressure with a few sacks and good coverage to keep the Wildcats from going on another touchdown frenzy and seemed more collected in the half.
“We always learn a lot from playing powerful teams such as Marin Catholic, and we learned that little mistakes cost touchdowns and that we need to learn from that to get better,” said San Marin coach Dominic DiMare.
The Mustang defense prevented a shutout with a safety for two points near the end of the game after the San Marin offense turned the ball over in the red zone.
Next week, Marin Catholic (7-1) will be facing their rivals in an away game at Redwood, while the Mustangs (4-3) are looking to bounce back from this tough loss at their homecoming game against San Rafael at home.
