SANTA CLARA, CA - Piedmont Hills put a damper on Santa Clara's homecoming festivities, routing the Bruins 62-14 in a non-league game behind a prolific display by quarterback Anthony McBride.
McBride threw for four touchdowns and ran for two more in the rout, picking apart the Bruins’ defense on every drive.
“We have a quarterback who’s in his third year as a starter, and we have a lot of good athletes who can go get the ball,” said Piedmont Hills head coach Matthew Kiesle. “We would like to be able to run the football better, but we’re throwing it so well that it’s been OK.
We have five to six pretty good receivers, so when we get tired, we can get fresh guys in and keep going and going and going.”
That’s exactly what they did on Friday night with McBride’s lethal aerial attack.
Wide receiver Aaron Tillak was the recipient of many of those throws, scoring three touchdowns, and even spelling McBride at quarterback as the game got out of hand.
The Pirates scored early and often, racking up 21 points in each of the first two quarters. Tillak’s touchdown run off a screen pass gave the Pirates a 14-0 lead late in the first quarter.
One of the Bruins’ few good moments came on the ensuing drive as quarterback Anthony Nazario ran it in for a touchdown on a quarterback keeper to cut the lead in half.
But that was as close as Santa Clara got. The momentum shifted right back in Piedmont Hills’ favor as it blocked a punt to begin the second quarter. Three plays later, McBride found Tillak with a perfect, 12-yard lob into the left corner of the end zone for the score.
The Pirates kept scoring, despite taking a 42-7 halftime lead. The highlight of the night for Piedmont Hills came midway through the third quarter, when McBride connected with Tillak yet again for an 80-yard touchdown. Tillak caught the ball at around his own 30-yard line, and used his speed to shake loose and take it all the way.
In all, Piedmont scored nine touchdowns -- more than two per quarter.
Bruins coach Hank Roberts knows there is much work to be done for this team.
“This is just going to be a learning experience,” he said. “Can’t wait to get in the film room with our guys and have them watch this. [Piedmont Hills] is a great football team, and we’ve definitely got to get better.”
