OCEANSIDE – The Oceanside High football team is so familiar with postseason success that the Pirates scheduled Senior Night for last night's quarterfinal playoff game against Lincoln rather than their last regular-season home game.
With their 41-0 victory over the Hornets, the defending San Diego Section Division II champions and state bowl winners showed that their regular-season finale tie against Ramona was an aberration and that they are prepared to make another run at a section title.
“We didn't play well enough (on) defense against Ramona, so we were eager to get back on the field tonight after the bye,” said Oceanside coach John Carroll. “It was a great performance by our defense and a great performance on kicking and special teams.”
Oceanside quarterback Jordan Wynn got the Pirates on the board first with a 50-yard touchdown pass to DeMario Coleman with 9:54 to go in the first quarter.
Oceanside added two 5-yard touchdown runs from Rene Siluano and Jake Fely before Wynn found Osmond Nicholas for a 16-yard touchdown pass with 1:11 remaining in the first half to make the score 28-0.
Oceanside's first score after intermission came on a Fely 1-yard touchdown run with 6:09 remaining in the game. The score was set up by a 77-yard pass from Wynn to Jerry Whitaker.
Wynn finished the game 14-of-24 for 288 yards and two touchdowns. After the game, it was discovered that Wynn played part of the second half with a concussion after taking several big hits.
“Jordan is such a huge part of our team and didn't want to come out because he knew we needed him,” said King Holder, who finished the game with eight receptions for 111 yards.
Oceanside added a 44-yard touchdown run by Elijah Latham toward the end of the game to complete the scoring.
The closest opportunity for the Hornets (6-6) to put points on the board in the first half came on their third drive, when they had a first-and-goal from the 10-yard line. But Lincoln hurt itself with three costly penalties that forced the Hornets out of scoring range.
Oceanside also prevented a final Lincoln scoring attempt on the last play of the game, when the Pirates intercepted a pass in the end zone.
Oceanside (10-0-1) will face visiting Scripps Ranch on Friday night in a semifinal game.
