SAN JOSE — The first half couldn’t have ended much worse for Bellarmine senior quarterback Troy Martig.
Martig ran for 40 yards to get the ball to the two-yard line of Serra but on the following play, he threw an interception and ended Bellarmine’s chances at going into halftime with a two-score lead.
Martig didn’t allow his late pick to bring him down in the second half.
“He came back and was all business,” Bellarmine coach Mike Janda said.
He sure was.
Martig ran for 103 of his team-high 155 yards and two touchdowns in the second half and added a 52-yard touchdown pass to Kyle Macauley as the Bells defeated visiting Serra 36-28 in the West Catholic Athletic League opener for both teams Friday night at San Jose City College.
“Coming out in the second half we knew they were going to come out fast,” Martig said. “We came out in the second half and we executed. The o-line did a great job and we found holes and it was a team effort by us.”
Martig threw for 138 yards on 5-of-11 passing with a touchdown and an interception.
Martig's lone pass attempt in the second half was the 52-yard touchdown pass to Macauley.
“We tell our guys that when we pass we want to make it count,” Janda said. “We don’t pass a lot but when we do we want to make it count.”
Antonio Garcia rushed for 42 yards including a pair of one-yard touchdown runs. In all the Bells ran for 293 yards on 59 carries in the win.
Bellarmine went into halftime leading 10-7.
“To end the first half and not be able to have those extra seven points and for them to score right away but we didn’t let that get to us,” Martig said. “Our offense executed and our defense came out strong.”
The Padres got right of the gates early in the second half as on the second offensive play of the half running back Kelepi Lataimua raced 52 yards for a touchdown to give Serra a 14-10 lead.
The lead was short-lived as only five plays later Martig gave the Bells the lead back with a 50-yard touchdown run.
Then the Bells defense started putting the clamps down on Serra’s explosive offense. Bellarmine forced Serra into back-to-back turnovers on its two possessions both of which led to Bellarmine touchdowns.
“Honestly it was all mental errors I know we are a better team than we showed today,” Serra quarterback Leki Nunn said of the Padres committing four turnovers. “I don’t know what happened we had a focused week of practice but overall Bellarmine just wanted it more. We just got to get back to work on Monday and show out next week.”
Nunn combined for over 300 yards of offense for the Padres, throwing for 176 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions on 9-of-17 passing. He rushed for 136 yards on 17 carries.
Padres receiver Rory Uniacke had game-highs in receptions (5) and yards (115). Brandon Monroe and Nikolao Vaefaga each had a touchdown reception for the Padres.
Vincent Fernandez, Macauley and Josh Bringuel each had an interception for Bells and Isaac Oshana a fumble recovery.
Serra (2-2, 0-1 WCAL) was able to get within a single score when the Padres drove 79 yards on two plays courtesy of a 61-yard pass from Nunn to Uniacke than an 18-yard touchdown pass from Nunn to Vaefaga with 3:05 left in the game.
The Padres were able to get the two-point conversion but were unable to gather the onside kick and Bellarmine successfully ran out the clock.
“I felt like we were fighting uphill all game long,” Serra coach Patrick Walsh said. “We continued to do so of which I was very proud of this group of kids who deal with adversity well. I was proud of their effort and enthusiasm I just didn’t get them in the frame of mind to play clean enough football so that’s on me.”
Coming into Friday night’s game Serra had won three straight against the Bells.
Bellarmine now leads the overall series 49-23-2.
Unlike a lot of the battles between the Padres and Bells this one featured a lot of offense and big plays.
“It was a high scoring game for two teams that are normally defensive powered,” Garcia said. “It was awesome we powered through and it’s awesome to get the win this early in league against such a good team.”
Serra will visit Riordan (3-0) next Saturday Oct. 10 at 1 p.m. The Crusaders open up WCAL play Saturday in San Jose against fellow unbeaten Mitty (3-0) at 3 p.m.
Bellarmine (4-0, 1-0) will host Mitty next Friday at 7 p.m. at San Jose City College.
