No. 4 Bulldogs bounce back with rout at San Jose

SAN JOSE – Sophomore Trevon Watson ran back a pair of long punt returns for touchdowns while the College of San Mateo offense totaled a season-best 475 yards in a huge 52-7 National Bay 6 League win at San Jose City College on Saturday afternoon.

The No. 4 state-ranked Bulldogs easily got back on track after having their 17-game winning streak snapped last week. CSM, now 8-1 overall and 3-1 in the Bay 6, trails City College of San Francisco (7-2, 4-0 Bay 6) by a game in the league standings with just one game to go.

The Bulldogs close the regular-season next Saturday at home against Laney (2-7, 1-3 Bay 6) with still a chance of earning a share of the Bay 6 League title. CCSF faces Diablo Valley (8-1, 3-1 Bay 6) in game with huge title and postseason implications.

A win next Saturday against Laney would likely secure the Bulldogs the No. 1 seed in the Northern California Regional Playoffs.

On Saturday, San Mateo was dominant in the win at SJCC. After San Jose tied up the game 7-7 at the 11:12 mark in the opening quarter, the Bulldogs went on to score 45 unanswered points.

The Bulldogs turned to the run game to control the contest and racked up a season-high 318 yards rushing. Dominick Gonzalez led San Mateo with 8 carries for 107 yards and a touchdown while John Stowers nearly matched him with 9 rushes for 91 yards.

CSM got rushing TDs from Gonzalez (36 yards), Bruce Uperesa (1 yard), and Josh Tucker (49 yards). Quarterback Luke Alexander had a quiet game but completed 7 of 15 passes for 149 yards. He connected for a pair of touchdowns with Corey Le'aupepe (1 yard) and Jalen Arnold (31 yards).

Watson stole the show with his punt returns for TDs. He broke free for a big 94-yard return at the 10:25 mark in the second and scampered in from 58 yards for another return with 43 seconds left in the half.

Dieter Kelly booted in a 34-yard field goal in the fourth to close out the Bulldogs' scoring.

The defense tallied four sacks in the contest, led by a pair of Khayri Jett. Jojo Latu and Uperesa both had 7 tackles each to lead the Bulldogs.