Dons run their way to 41-10 victory at Capuchino

Though the temperature may have felt frozen, the Dons’ scoring was not as the Aragon varsity football team stormed into Capuchino and steamrolled the Mustangs in a 41-10 win on Oct. 11.

After a quick turnover on downs to start the game, the Dons managed to force and recover a fumble on their first defensive possession near midfield. Wanting to set the tone early on, the Dons went with a heavy offensive package with two tight ends and fullbacks, and ran the ball into the Capuchino defense. The two running backs, seniors Patrick Pauni and Keith Samujh, carried the ball down to the Mustang goal line where Pauni capped off the drive with a two yard touchdown run up the middle.

On the following Mustang possession, the Dons defense forced another turnover on downs. This time, Samujh torched the Mustang defense up the middle for a 43 yard rushing touchdown. The Mustangs would respond with a 35 yard field goal to cap off the first quarter, with the Dons leading 14-3.

The Dons again decided to stick to the ground and run the ball right at the Mustangs. Five successful running plays and a key 29 yard completion to senior Matt Foppiano had the Dons knocking on the door of the Mustangs’ end zone again where Samujh would plunge in for his second score.

Capuchino refused to let up and came roaring back with a one yard touchdown dive by junior quarterback Anthony Pellegrini to end the half trailing only by 10.

The Dons entered the second half looking to dominate. After a missed field goal by the Mustangs, it didn’t take long before Samujh was in the end zone again on a 65 yard touchdown run right up the middle of the field. “It was critical that we got a stop right away, scored, and then were able to put some distance between us and them because they were giving us some trouble,” says head coach Steve Sell. “We came out in the second half and dominated the line of scrimmage and ran the ball with some force.”

Sticking with the powerful formation, Samujh and Pauni continued to plow their way through the Mustang defensive line and pick up key first downs. Following an onside kick recovery, Samujh would find the end zone once again after breaking a tackle on a 15 yard touchdown scamper.

“When we ran the [heavy formation], our line was really just blocking hard, so it made it really easy for me, there was always a hole. On those big plays all I had to do was make one guy miss,” Samujh says of his four touchdowns. Meanwhile, the defense continued to shut down the Mustang offense, holding them on downs twice with three sacks and two tackles for loss to secure the win.

The Dons have opened up the season to a 4-1 start after their move to the Ocean Division, with other wins against Jefferson, El Camino, and Lincoln. They will square off against undefeated Burlingame, the first place team in the Ocean Division, on Friday Oct. 18. With the physical run style approach and another season of experience under the belt of senior quarterback Nat Blood, the Dons look to make a deep run in the playoffs this season and avenge last year’s loss to St. Francis in the semi finals.