Football: Warriors Thump Monta Vista in Home Opener

Score: South San Francisco 25, Monta Vista 7

The Star:  South City's Greg Bildhauer notched two touchdowns — one on a reception and the other on a reverse.

The Turning Point: Warriors running back Falah Salem sparked a second-half surge by racing for a 64-yard touchdown run on the first play from scrimmage.

The Quote: "I was on a mission for (numbers) 34 and 4. I wanted to harass them. I don't like them. I don't have any love for them." —  linebacker Rika Levi, on pursuing Monta Vista running back Jordan Sheade and quarterback Freddy Kuo.

What's Next? South City has a road game against Mountain View on Sept. 25.

Bottom Line: It was a good win for the Warriors, considering their unplanned two-week layoff and mental fatigue from the San Bruno fire. But the hosts displayed a few tendencies that could haunt them against better opposition -- numerous penalties, poor execution on special teams and squandered scoring chances.

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Waiting patiently in the backfield, South San Francisco's Falah Salem knew his football team had to step it up. In the opening half, the Warriors had only managed six points on six possessions.

But on the first play from scrimmage of the second half, Salem ignited the Warriors by racing for a 64-yard touchdown run. After reaching the back of the end zone, Salem never turned back -- and neither did his team.

In a delayed start to its home season, South City improved to 2-0 with a 25-7 win over Cupertino's Monta Vista on Friday night.

"We're a young team," ninth-year head coach Frank Moro said. "(At halftime) we worked at getting off the ball and on the first play, we go 70 yards."

The Warriors' slow start to the game wasn't surprising. South City unexpectedly entered its second game with an extra week off.

A week ago, the Warriors were set to face Capuchino, but that game was cancelled after the gas-line blaze ravaged San Bruno on Sept. 9.

"It was tough," Moro said. "These guys, Friday -- it was like I hit 'em or something. They were just down."

The players agreed.

"It did affect us," senior defensive back Darren Tufono said. "But as a team we still came out and scrimmaged against each other. Some guys were kind of down, but in practice we picked it up. We didn't let it affect us in the end."

After a scoreless opening quarter, the Warriors went ahead on their third possession.

Salem, a senior running back, began the 54-yard drive on the ground, but then South City took to the air. Quarterback Brad Los connected with Greg Bildhauer for a 12-yard gain, and then two plays later hit the wide receiver again for a 27-yard touchdown and a 6-0 lead.

"I know I was coming out hungry," said Bildhauer, who went on to record his first multi-touchdown game. "My coach emphasizes that he wants 100 percent -- so I just try my hardest to get every single one … and break tackles."

Late in the third quarter, South City combined a variety of running plays with some quick passes to push its lead to 18-0. Ultimately, Bildhauer took a reverse from Los and sprinted down the left side for a 17-yard touchdown to cap the 13-play, 86-yard drive.

Later, Los found wide receiver Robert Johnson for a 30-yard score.

"To tell you the truth, I just have fun out there," Los said. "You can put pressure on yourself, but in the end, it's just football."

Though the offense enjoyed the glory of its four-touchdown night, the Warrior defense utterly shut down Monta Vista's offense until the final seconds of the game. The hosts forced eight punts, blocked a field goal in the second quarter and received a third-quarter interception from Johnson.

The South City defensive front stuffed Monta Vista's Jordan Sheade, who had rushed for 317 yards and three touchdowns in his two previous games. The Matadors didn't score until Giles Van Poetsch got a 1-yard touchdown run with 24 seconds remaining.

Despite South City's comfortable victory, Moro acknowledged that the performance was far from perfect. The Warriors totaled seven penalties, missed three of their four point-after attempts and squandered multiple scoring opportunities in the first half.

"That's what happens when you have a young team. They've never been the stars at night before. And now they're the stars," Moro said. "Overall, it was a good night. But three times inside the 50 — you gotta score. But I could tell they were a little flat."