St. Monica Quarterback Shines in Debut

Judging by the way he played in the second half, it was hard to tell that Luke Cain was starting his first game at quarterback for the football team.

The 6-foot-2, 185-pound junior showed poise in the pocket and ran the offense expertly as the Mariners scored four touchdowns in the final two quarters. They overpowered visiting Brentwood, 34-14, Saturday night in a nonleague game at .

Cain finished with nine completions in 15 attempts for 134 yards and no interceptions. More importantly, his taking the snaps allowed the Mariners' other quarterback, Lukas Dretzka, to play receiver and the pair hooked up for the Mariners' first score just before halftime.

"Luke wasn't ready at the start of the season—he had to mature, but we needed to make this change," St. Monica's first-year head coach Adam Guerra said. "It's a move that makes us a better team all the way around. I think it's fitting that his first touchdown pass was to the other quarterback."

Cain found Dreska over the midde from 20 yards out to tie the score 7-7 with 23 seconds left in the second quarter.

Brentwood, however, took a 14-7 lead into halftime when Etienne Tremblay returned the ensuing kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown with eight seconds remaining in the first half. The Eagles appeared to have all the momentum ... until the teams returned from their locker rooms.

St. Monica outscored Brentwood 27-0 over the final 24 minutes using a power running attack led by senior Sean Martinez, who battered the Eagles with 110 yards and two touchdowns in 21 carries.

"They came out [for the second half] with fire and we didn't match their intensity," Brentwood head coach Patrick Brown said. "They wore us down in the second half. We have to learn to play when we're tired."

The host Mariners received the second-half kickoff and marched 60 yards in eight plays, scoring on a three-yard run by Kevin Holubowski. That score opened the floodgates, as Brentwood fumbled on its next possession and St. Monica recovered at the Eagles' 14.

It took the Mariners only four plays to take the lead, 21-14, on another three-yard touchdown run by Holubowski, who gained 33 yards in eight carries. Nick Velasquez was Cain's favorite target, catching six passes for 69 yards. 

On Brentwood's next series, junior quarterback Connor Boggs picked up the Eagles' initial first down of the half, but he was then sacked on third-and-10 and the Eagles had to punt.

"The coaching staff made some X and O changes at halftime and to their credit the players executed them," Guerra said. "We ran from some formations they hadn't seen and ran the ball to a certain side to see what they would do."

St. Monica took over at midfield and needed seven plays to again find the end zone. Martinez broke tackles all the way to the goal line on a 20-yard gallop that increased the Mariners' lead to 28-14 with 7:55 remaining in the fourth quarter. He added a 17-yard run off left tackle to put the game out of reach with 1:29 left.

"We were just kind of flat in the first half and some of our linemen weren't making their blocks," said Martinez, who averaged 6.2 yards per carry while leading the Mariners to the crown last season. "We made some adjustments on offense and dominated the second half in every aspect. The same play was working so we ran it over and over."

The Eagles' last gasp ended when Boggs was sacked on fourth down at the Brentwood 45-yard line with seven seconds left. The Mariners took over and Cain took a knee to run out the clock. 

"I want to give a big shout out to Luke Cain," Martinez said. "He did a great job and so did our offensive line."

Brentwood might have had a larger lead at halftime had it converted several scoring chances early when it had the St. Monica defense off balance. The Eagles dodged a bullet after failing to get a punt off and turning it over on downs at their own 25, but the defense didn't allow a first down and St. Monica kicker Sam Saldibar missed a 38-yard field goal.

The Eagles then drove 80 yards in 10 plays, scoring on a 26-yard pass play from Boggs to senior wide receiver Jacob Woocher, who had snuck behind the defense. Dylan Angarella made the subsequent extra point to give Brentwood a 7-0 lead with 2:19 left in the first quarter.

St. Monica went three-and-out on its next drive and the Eagles nearly took a two-touchdown lead on the ensuing possession. Boggs used a play-action pass to freeze the linebackers, leaving Woocher in single coverage, but Mariners freshman cornerback got his hand on the ball at the last instant to save a sure touchdown.

"I thought our defense did a good job keeping us in the game in the first half," Guerra said. "We weren't moving on offense for the first quarter and a half, but the defense kept us right in it."  

St. Monica's ground game was stifled by Brentwood's stout defense for most of the first half, so the Mariners went to the air and Cain fired a long pass to tight end Blaze Hilario that moved St. Monica from its 22 to the Eagles' 35. Four plays later, Cain found Dretzka and the home crowd finally had reason to make noise.

The tie lasted all of 15 seconds. That's how long it took for Tremblay to catch the ensuing kickoff, hide behind a wall of blockers, then explode up the left side for the go-ahead touchdown.

"Even though we were behind I felt okay at halftime because I think throwing at the end of the half gave them something to think about," said Guerra, who succeeded , now the head coach at in Playa del Rey. "All of a sudden the threat of a pass was there and they couldn't play eight men in the box."

St. Monica hosts Pasadena Blair (1-2) at 7 p.m. Friday at Santa Monica College.

Score by Quarters

1

2

3

4

Final

Brentwood

7

7

0

0

14

St. Monica

0

7

14

34

Scoring Summary

Brentwood -- Woocher 26 pass from Boggs (Angarella kick), 2:19 left in 1st qtr.

St. Monica -- Dretzka 20 pass from Cain (Saldibar kick), ) 0:23 left in 2nd qtr.

Brentwood -- Tremblay 90 kickoff return (Angarella kick), 0:08 left in 2nd qtr.

St. Monica -- Holubowski 3 run (Saldibar kick), 6:36 left in 3rd qtr.

St. Monica -- Holubowski 3 run (Saldibar kick), 3:06 left in 3rd qtr. 

St. Monica -- Martinez 20 run (Saldibar kick), 7:55 left in 4th qtr.

St. Monica -- Martinez 17 run (run failed), 1:29 left in 4th qtr.

Records: Brentwood 1-2; St. Monica 2-2.