PREP FOOTBALL 2016: Davis runs wild in St. Vincent’s opening win

It wasn’t always pretty, but St. Vincent’s season-opening football game was very satisfying for the Mustangs.

Playing on its home turf on a fine fall Saturday afternoon heaven-designed for high school football, St. Vincent rode the unstoppable legs of senior running back Michael Davis to a 43-18 victory over Elsie Allen’s game Lobos.

Davis ran for 274 yards, caught three passes for 134 yards (408 total yards) and scored four touchdowns as the Mustangs rolled over but did not totally dominate the trying Lobos, who still haven’t won a game in more than two seasons. Davis’ glowing numbers could have been even brighter had he not also lost close to 100 yards rushing and receiving to penalties called on his teammates for a multitude of infractions such as illegal blocking, holding and illegal procedure. His rushing total was the most for a Mustang since Ray Tamblyn ran for 304 yards in a game in 1997.

“It’s a good start,” said St. Vincent coach Gary Galloway. “We made a lot of mistakes. It looked like a first game.”

Galloway also was pleased with the play of Fernando Vaca, a senior but first-year varsity football player. Vaca was a standout in all aspects of the kicking game. He hit five of six PAT attempts and made the Lobos work for their yardage with strong kickoffs. On the other side of the ball, he did an excellent job returning Elsie Allen kicks, making several strong returns, including one for 80-plus yards that would have been a touchdown had not a Mustang been flagged for an illegal block.

“Davis had a great game,” said Galloway. “If it hadn’t been for him, Fernando would have been our highlight of the game.”

Mike Davis’ sophomore brother, Will, also played well for the Mustangs in his first game as varsity quarterback, directing the offense, and mostly passing accurately. He hit on five of eight passes for 177 yards and two touchdowns, one a 70-yard connection to brother Mike.

Defensively, St. Vincent generally played well. The offense made the defense’s job more difficult with six turnovers. Veteran linebackers Nick Murphy and Brian Giron were both outstanding, forcing Elsie Allen to pretty much abandon its running game in the second half. Murphy led the team with 13 tackles. Giron had 10. Trenton Starrett, Eric Riley and Will Davis each had an interception.

Galloway had praise for the gritty Lobos. “They are much improved over last year,” he said. “They have some talent and they played hard.”

The season was less than two minutes old when Will Smith tossed to Starrett for a 14-yard touchdown, and St. Vincent was on top for good. The Mustangs’ next drive was aborted by a fumble at the Lobo 3-yard line, but staunch defense by Giron and Murphy allowed nothing in three Lobo tries and, on fourth down, the snap on a punt attempt sailed over the kicker’s head and out of the end zone for a safety.

Following the Elsie Allen kick, the Mustangs took over at the Lobo 38-yard line, and, on the first play from scrimmage, Michael Davis started his personal spectacular night, zooming almost untouched into the end zone to give his side a 16-0 first-quarter advantage.

Elsie Allen outscored St. Vincent, 12-7, in the second period, getting one touchdown on a 63-yard pass play from game-long standout quarterback Erick Vargas to Diego Mendoza and another on a 4-yard run from Mendoza following an interception.

Earlier in the period, the Davis brothers hooked up on their 74-yard TD. It was after the first Lobo touchdown that Vaca broke his touchdown return that was wiped away by the officials’ yellow hankies.

The halftime score was 27-12, a St. Vincent advantage that quickly grew to 30-12 on a 28-yard unmolested touchdown run by Michael Davis.

Two long passes from Vargas of 17 and 39 yards helped Elsie Allen quickly answer back, with Bargas scoring from the four to keep things interesting at 30-18 going into the final round.

Elsie Allen never got closer.

Michael Davis did it again early in the fourth quarter, going 43 yards to make it 37-18, and the Mustangs played what reserves they had through most of the final quarter, ending the game by taking a knee at the Lobo 3-yard line.