Quarterback Noah Martinez picks up yardage for Segerstrom. Arlington’s Damien K. Garcia defends. (Photos courtesy Mark Bausman, For OC Sports Zone).
Segerstrom’s football team was clicking on both sides of the ball Friday night.
Segerstrom quarterback Noah Martinez threw four touchdown passes and the Jaguars defense recorded 11 quarterback sacks to lead the way in a 42-12 non-league victory over Arlington at Segerstrom.
To see the slide show, click on the first photo:
Segerstrom, coming off two straight losses, evened its record at 2-2.
“We came into this week thinking we had to get going early and offensively, we were able to do that,” said Segerstrom Coach Joseph Tagaloa. “Big plays with Noah Martinez and Adrian Cervantes and Eddie Anuu, those guys really stepped up for us on offense, they put the foot on the gas pedal and got us going.”
Martinez completed 8 of 14 passes for 153 yards before back-up quarterback Cayden Branum came in early in the third quarter.
Martinez began the game connecting with Cervantes on a 23-yard TD pass late in the first quarter. He found Cervantes again on a 13-yard TD pass in the second quarter to put Segestrom ahead 14-0.
“He was able to get open and made it easy for me and made my job easy,” Martinez said of Cervantes. “I was really appreciative that these guys have put out the work and what they’ve done for us. It was a great win by all of us, the line blocked especially well and everyone was running the routes they were supposed.
“This was really important, we were coming off two losses and now we were able to bounce back.”
Arlington (1-3) cut the lead to 14-6 with its only score of the game, a 32-yard TD pass from quarterback Santiago Roman to Erik Arrelano in the second quarter.
But Anuu scored on a 15-yard TD run and Martinez hit Cervantes on a 15-yard TD pass to put the Jaguars ahead 28-6 at halftime.
Anuu hauled in a 57-yard TD pass from Martinez early in the third quarter to put Segerstrom ahead 35-6 lead.
Armando Casteneda added a 36-yard TD run to put the Jaguars ahead 42-6 in the fourth quarter and a running clock was used. Arlington added a late TD on a run by Chris Jimenez in the final seconds.
The Segerstrom defense was relentess all night, registering nearly minus 60 yards on sacks.
“That was one of our focuses coming in,” Tagaloa said. “We were trying to keep the quarterback in the pocket because their quarterback is athletic and when he’s outside the pocket, he makes things happen, get to the quarterback and keep him in the pocket. We had a couple sacks from Tupu {Paepule} and Joe Garcia, those guys played hard all night.”
Tagaloa was also pleased with Martinez’ performance.
“He’s good with his feet, what I appreciate about him is he is a student of the game,” Tagaloa said. “A lot of the plays we call are because of his input on the field, overall, he’s just a great player and a great leader for us.”
—Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone; timburt@ocsportszone.com
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