OCEANSIDEOCEANSIDE — Two prep football programs with proud traditions met Friday night with both schools trying to avoid a rare 0-2 start to the season.
After battling to a 14-14 stalemate in regulation play, it was St. Augustine High prevailing over Oceanside in double overtime, 27-24, in a nonleague matchup at Simcox Field. The loss dropped the host Pirates to 0-2 for the first time in a full season in 20 years.
“We’re learning as we go,” said Oceanside coach Dave Rodriguez. “We’re a blue-collar group, and if we’re going to get a win, we’re going to have to earn it.”
St. Augustine avoided a second straight 0-2 start when Humble Fa’alave-Johnson scored his second touchdown of the game on a 5-yard run to end the Saints’ second overtime possession. Before last year, the last time the Saints started the season with two losses was in 1998.
“We started 17 freshmen and sophomores,” said Saints coach Rod Gladnick. “We have a lot of talent, but we’re very young.”
After each team scored a touchdown on their respective series in the first overtime, Oceanside took a 24-21 lead in the second extra session on a 27-yard field goal by Joshua Contreras. It took the Saints five plays to score the winner, the key gain coming on a 12-yard from freshman quarterback Brady Palmer to junior receiver Isaiah Hasten on a third-and-8 play from the 23-yard line.
Oceanside overcame a 14-0 deficit with a pair of short Joseph Garcia touchdown runs, the tying score coming with 6:12 remaining in the fourth period on a 3-yard run which came six plays after the Pirates defense recovered a Saints fumble at the St. Augustine 44-yard line.
The Oceanside offense lost two fumbles in the first period, with Brady Klem and Fa’alave-Johnson making the recoveries for the Saints defense. St. Augustine came up empty after the first turnover as a 23-yard field-goal attempt drifted wide right midway through the opening stanza.
The Pirates fumbled again on a completed screen just two plays after the missed field goal, with Johnson making the recovery at the 26-yard line. It took only one play for Palmer to find freshman receiver Parker Johnson over the middle, and Johnson made a leaping grab in the end zone for the score despite tight coverage with 5:08 left in the first quarter.
On the next offensive series, Oceanside drove to the Saints 23-yard line before quarterback Sa’ne Thompson was sacked by Brady Klem for a 7-yard loss. An incomplete on fourth down ended the threat with 1:51 left in the opening quarter, and the Pirates advanced no further than the St. Augustine 44-yard line the rest of the half.
St. Augustine needed just five plays to advance 80 yards to start the second half with another score which doubled the Saints’ lead. Palmer scrambled 21 yards for a first down at the Oceanside 39-yard line, and two plays later it was Fa’alave-Johnson breaking several tackles on his way to a 39-yard touchdown run with just 1:32 elapsed in the third quarter.
Oceanside took advantage of a muffed punt shortly after Fa’alave-Johnson’s big run to finally get on the scoreboard. Jaylen Harvey made the recovery, and a 49-yard from Thompson to Gavin Bailey led to a 1-yard scoring run by Garcia.
The last time Oceanside started a full season 0-2 was in 2002. The Pirates were CIF Division I champions as recently as 2019, a year after St. Augustine won the Division I crown.
St. Augustine snapped a four-game losing streak against the Pirates. The last Saints win came in the 1996 CIF Division III semifinals, a game won by St. Augustine, 18-14. The Pirates’ four-game win streak against the Saints began the following season when Oceanside prevailed in the Division III championship game, 28-25.
The Pirates continued their winning ways against St. Augustine with a 17-14 victory in last year’s season opener.
Hoff is a freelance writer.
St. Augustine 27, Oceanside 24 (2 OT)
St. Augustine 7 0 7 0 7 6 — 27
Oceanside 0 0 7 7 7 3 — 24
SA — Johnson 26 from Palmer (Bravence kick)
SA — Fa’alave-Johnson 39 run (Bravence kick)
O — Garcia 1 run (Contreras kick)
O — Garcia 3 run (Contreras kick)
SA — Hasten 24 from Palmer (Bravence kick)
O — Pickett 7 from Thompson (Contreras kick)
O — FG Contreras 27
SA — Fa’alave-Johnson 5 run (no attempt)
