SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO - South San Francisco made sure there would be no close call en route to a 14th straight Bell Game victory over crosstown rival El Camino. There was no repeat of last year, where the Warriors had to stop a two-point conversion attempt in the final minutes to fight off an El Camino comeback.
This time around, the visiting Warriors jumped out to a 24-0 halftime lead behind a healthy dose of Spencer Eugenio and Kalvin Pua and never looked back, routing the hosts 36-6 in the 56th Bell Game.
South City’s marches down the field were as methodical as a military parade. After Pua knocked the ball loose and Eugenio recovered the fumble to stop the Colts on the game’s opening possession, the two combined to cover all but nine of the 58 yards on the Warriors’ opening touchdown drive, with Eugenio plunging in from four yards out for the opening score and following it with a two-point conversion.
It really was as simple as giving the ball to one of those two on almost every single play. The small, shifty Eugenio and the hulking Pua combined for 344 of the team’s 412 yards.
The same recipe put South San Francisco (3-6) up 16-0 early in the second quarter. A trick play on fourth and long was intercepted by Tyson Alapati, and the terrific duo covered all 70 yards over the next four minutes and change. Eugenio’s 32-yard run brought the Warriors into the red zone, and his six-yard scamper capped off the drive. Pua scored on the two-point try to make it 16-0.
El Camino (3-6) drew up a perfect pass play on a fake punt to try to get back in the game, but the pass itself fell short and the Warriors capitalized again. This time, it was Pua finishing off the drive with a 1-yard plunge, and Eugenio followed with the conversion to make it 24-0.
The Colts had a chance to get a foot in the door before halftime, but their drive stalled at the Warrior 36.
The only difference in the second half was South City’s defense tightening up. El Camino ran just two plays in Warrior territory in the second half, the latter of which was a Jonas Junio 30-yard touchdown pass to Jimmy Dugas to break the shutout with 28 seconds remaining.
Other than that, it was the Eugenio and Pua show. Pua’s second touchdown run of the day, an 8-yard run made it 30-0 with 6:23 left, and Alapati’s 5-yard touchdown made it 36-0 with 2:41 to go, allowing for the game to finish with a running clock. Alapati also threw South City’s lone pass of the day, a 12-yard completion to Demetrius Gutu.
Even when the Warriors weren’t scoring, they were making sure there would be no drama. South City opened the second half with the ball and failed to score, but got all the way down to the El Camino 10 and took more than eight minutes off the clock. If there was any doubt that the Bell would stay in South City’s possession for a 14th straight year and 47th time overall, there was none after the Warriors burned more than half of the third quarter on that drive.
South San Francisco outgained the Colts 412-185, including 400-118 on the ground. The Warriors converted nine of ten third downs, including all four in the first half.
Eugenio finished with 219 yards on 26 carries, while Pua ran 23 times for 125 yards. They’ll try to finish their senior seasons with another monster performance when the Warriors travel to Woodside on Friday to round out the PAL Ocean schedule.
El Camino, which was led by Emilio Urrutia (7 carries-45 yards) and Jerome Faulalo (6 carries-33 yards), will host Lake Division champion Jefferson on Thursday to close out the year.
