Something was off.

Maybe it was the recent injuries. Maybe it was the difficulty of coming down from an emotional high. Or maybe it was simply excellent play by the North Terrance Saxons.

Whatever the case, the Cabrillo that lost 40-6 to North Torrance on Friday night on their own field was not the same team that earned the program’s first victory in two seasons just seven days prior.

Saxons running back Ryan McDaniel rushed for 127 yards and 2 touchdowns, as Cabrillo needed several defenders to bring down ball carriers on nearly every running play. Senior linebacker Ari Faaiu was usually the first one to the ball, but it continuously took too much time and too many Jaguars to bring the North runners down.  Three different players scored rushing touchdowns for North and they relentlessly ran the ball up the gut and into the heart of the Cabrillo defense.

It wasn’t easy defending the pass, either. Saxons quarterback Jonathan Garcia threw the ball just 8 times but racked up 138 yards and 2 touchdowns, also rushing for a score. North improved to 2-1 on the season while Cabrillo falls to 1-2.

Once North realized they had an advantage, they didn’t waste any time. After touchdowns from Garcia and McDaniel put them up 14-0 in the second quarter, the Saxons unexpectedly tried an onside kick and recovered. They would later score on a 31-yard touchdown pass to running back Ben Brown and headed into halftime with a 20-0 lead. Cabrillo couldn’t recover.

Offensively, quarterback Derek Stewart was pretty well protected by his offensive line, but he struggled to find a groove. The junior threw 10-25 for 118 yards, a touchdown and an interception. Many of those yards came on a 46-yard touchdown pass to receiver Donovan Cruz, clearly one of the Moore League’s best athletes. Stewart looked to Cruz often; perhaps too often as the speedy senior was obviously a defensive priority for North.

The Jaguars had trouble sustaining long drives and had only the one big play to Cruz, which came when Cabrillo already trailed by 27 points in the third quarter. North responded with a 65-yard touchdown pass from Garcia to receiver Michael Thompson on the first play of the ensuing drive to silence the home crowd and put the game out of reach at 33-6.

Whatever happened on Friday night, it was clear that Cabrillo reverted back to doing the things that kept them from winning over the last two years. They committed costly personal foul penalties, missed assignments and became frustrated when they needed to persevere. The fact that they defeated Lynwood 24-6 last week proves that this is a new Jaguar team, but they’ll have to figure out what went wrong before they can continue to build on what is truthfully a promising situation.

Cabrillo will try to even out their record next week at Capristrano Valley.