Isaiah Capoocia scored on a run and a punt return for El Capitan in its Regional Bowl victory.
File photo by Steven Silva
It turns out that earning a trip to a CIF Division III State Championship Bowl game was a whole lot easier for
El Capitan (Lakeside, Calif.) than it was winning a San Diego Section Division II crown.
The Vaqueros earned the program's first trip to the state title game with a 41-0 drubbing of
Paso Robles (Calif.) Saturday in a Southern California Regional Bowl Game at their home stadium. Their victory earned them a berth in the Division III State Bowl against Campolindo (Moraga) at StubHub Center in Carson. Kickoff is set for noon on Saturday, Dec. 20.
Brad Cagle, El Capitan
File photo by Steven Silva
The second quarter told the whole story, as the Vaqueros racked up a 31-0 lead by halftime and then cruised the rest of the way.
Takota Curo's field goal from 28 yards out was the only scoring in the opening quarter and then the floodgates opened for the home team (14-0), which scored in a cornucopia of ways.
Isaiah Capoocia scored on a 1-yard run and returned a punt 62 yards for a score to make it 17-0.
Dj Smith took an interception back 81 yards and then
Brad Cagle passed to
Frankie Lima for 15 yards to forge the halftime advantage.
The only pertinent thing that happened in the third quarter was that the Vaqueros punted for the first time in the game.
They finished things off with a 34-yard field goal from Curo and a 2-yard sneak from Cagle.
According to U-T San Diego, Cagle passed for 119 yards on a 9-for-15 day and Smith ran 12 times for 85 yards.
“It’s a pretty awesome feeling,” El Capitan coach Ron Burner told U-T San Diego. “Not only was this place packed, but we’re going to the state championship. It doesn’t get any better than that.”
The loss moved Paso Robles, the Southern Section Northern Division champion, to 13-2.
According to the San Luis Obispo Tribune, the Bearcats had to play without their top player, receiver
Bailey Gaither, who hurt his leg last week.
“We played the best that we possibly could,” Paso Robles coach Rich Schimke told the Tribune. “We gave our best effort. They were the better team tonight in all aspects of the game, but I’m really proud of our guys.”
Information for this article was culled from tweets by Brendan Price of KPBS, @brenjprice3.
