VALLEY CENTER–The Valley Center Jaguars are an elite Division IV program, with five CIF championship banners to prove it. But each year when they meet Oceanside in Valley League play, coach Rob Gilster’s team gets to see a level of talent and speed that rarely travels up Cole Grade Road.
“Our kids only see speed like that once a year,” said Gilster.
On Friday night, #1 Oceanside raced past #4 Valley Centerso quickly, the Jaguars and their fans barely got a glimpse before the Pirates were off with the treasure. Oceanside (9-0, 5-0) jumped out to a 24-0 lead at the end of the first quarter and completely throttled the Valley Center offense in a 45-7 final that was not nearly as close as the score.
Pirates head coach John Carroll was proud of his team’s intensity on a night when the Pirates’ first-team defense held the Jaguars (8-1, 4-1) to 37 yards, three first downs and zero points in 13 possessions.
Oceanside scored two touchdowns in the first 2:44 of the game to quickly drain any drama from a matchup of 8-0 teams. The Pirates marched 72 yards on the opening drive, scoring on a Devin Taverna wide receiver option TD pass to Demario Coleman. Moments later, senior cornerback/running back Noah Tarrant picked off a Beau Reilly pass in the left flat and easily scampered 26 yards for a pick six, making it 14-0.
Read more and hear from Thomas Molesi, Noah Tarrant, John Carroll and Rob Gilster after the jump:
The Pirates offense was rarely stopped on Friday night/(619 Sports photo)
Oceanside racked up 152 of their 381 total yards of offense in the first quarter, with quarterback Quentis Clark (9-for-17, 125 yards, TD) hooking up with Jerry Whittaker on a 27-yard scoring toss to make it 21-0. The Pirates ran for a combined 210 yards, with Whittaker (8 carries, 82 yards) and King Holder (3 carries, 52 yards, 2 TD) leading the way.
But the story on this night was on the other side of the football, where the Pirates’ defense regularly induced gasps from the Valley Center crowd with their pad-rattling hits. Stanton Upson, an all-league running back who entered the game with over 1200 yards and 13 touchdowns, was held to a paltry 26 yards on 22 carries.
Thomas Molesi racked up three sacks against the Jaguars/(619 Sports photo)
Oceanside defensive lineman Thomas Molesi said Upson was the focus of the Pirates’ defense in practice all week:
With Upson under wraps and the score out of hand, the Oceanside defenders were left free to pin their ears back and chase the quarterback. Beau Reilly wound up being sacked six times, three times by Molesi.
Noah Tarrant, meanwhile, enjoyed an unusual two touchdown day. After his pick six score as a corner, Tarrant found himself in the right place at the right time in the third quarter, when a bad snap on a punt left Jaguars’ punter David Last awkwardly booting a scrambling kick from his end zone. Tarrant grabbed the short wobbler on the run and raced 12 yards for his second non-offensive touchdown of the game:
On a foggy night the Jaguars were stopped cold by Oceanside/(619 Sports photo)
On a night where there wasn’t much to enjoy from a Valley Center perspective, head coach Rob Gilster saw something very important on the field: a Jaguars team that met the physical challenge offered by the Pirates without backing down.
Oceanside further bolstered their #1 section and #5 state ranking, and at 9-0, they are a week (and a win over Ramona) away from both securing another Valley League title and completing a 10-0 regular season. While John Carroll’s team once had a 10-0 season that included a forfeit, they’ve never completed a 10-0 regular season on the field, a fact he shared with his team in the postgame huddle.
Meanwhile, the Jaguars will still be a #1 or #2 seed for the Division-IV playoffs, where they will likely roll until they see another brilliantly fast San Diego athlete, Mission Bay’s Dillon Baxter.
BONUS PREP FRIDAY COVERAGE:
Listen to and/or download all of our postgame interviews!
Oceanside head coach John Carroll:
Oceanside defensive lineman Thomas Molesi:
Oceanside DB/RB Noah Tarrant:
Valley Center head coach Rob Gilster:
