Triton Offense Won’t Fly, but Defense Does

Chris Smith rushed for 128 yards and a touchdown Friday night to lead San Clemente to a 15-6 victory at Capistrano Valley in a South Coast League opener.

Smith’s 60-yard run in the first quarter gave the sixth-ranked Tritons (5-1, 1-0) the only lead they would need.

“I’ve got to credit our defense,” San Clemente Coach Eric Patton said. “They stopped Capo when they had to. Our offense stunk up the place.”

That was particularly true in the second half. San Clemente was unable to run the ball from its fly offense for the final two quarters and didn’t have a second-half first down until seven minutes were gone in the fourth quarter. But the San Clemente defense held, giving up just a pair of Garret Petrie field goals.

“We’re not hitting on all cylinders on offense,” Patton said. “We had a lot of penalties and did the maddening sort of things you can’t do and expect to win.”

Smith’s touchdown run with six minutes 19 seconds left in the first quarter looked to be the beginning of a big offensive night for San Clemente, but the Cougars (1-5, 1-0) were able to hang around despite some major mistakes of their own.

Capistrano quarterback David Frazeur was called for intentional grounding while attempting a pass in his own end zone, and the safety gave San Clemente an 8-0 lead. Frazeur finished by completing 13 of 25 passes for 156 yards and two interceptions.

Colin Mahoney’s one-yard plunge with eight minutes left in the second quarter made it 15-0.

Capistrano Valley had a chance to cut into the lead just before half, but Frazeur threw three incomplete passes from the Tritons five-yard line and his fourth attempt was intercepted by Ryan King.

Frazeur completed 13 of 25 passes for 156 yards.