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St. Mary’s High squandered a 20-7 halftime lead and lost, 29-20, at El Cerrito High Friday night. 

The Panthers (0-2) built their first-half lead with two touchdown runs by quarterback Steve Murphy and a blocked punt that defensive lineman Jarrell Booker returned for a touchdown. But an inspired Gauchos defense and three St. Mary’s turnovers – a Murphy interception and two fumbles by tailback Fred Hives – kept the Panthers out of the end zone in the second half. 

Hives finished the game with 18 carries for 86 yards and three fumbles. Murphy was just 3-of-10 passing for 39 yards and an interception. Lawson replaced Murphy with backup Scott Tully on St. Mary’s final drive, but Tully missed on all seven of his passes. 

“We let a good ball club stay in the game, and then momentum started to swing, and they really took it to us in the second half,” St. Mary’s head coach Jay Lawson said. “The came out a little bit more physical. A couple times we had people defensively out of position or in a deep-third zone and let somebody get behind them when they shouldn’t have. El Cerrito made plays.” 

“It seemed like every time we were on a drive, we’d cough the ball up and give them opportunities.” 

El Cerrito (1-1) was much more productive offensively in the second half. The Gauchos ran for 122 yards compared to just eight in the first half and quarterback Ricky Gatewood threw for 133 yards and two scores. For the game, Gatewood was 10-for-17 for 201 yards, three TDs and two interceptions. 

Gatewood began the comeback with an 11-yard toss to Elijah Vincent in the third quarter to make the score 20-14. The key play on the drive was a 25-yard screen pass on fourth-and-four that got the ball to the St. Mary’s 13-yard line. 

The Gauchos’ biggest play came on second and seven at their own 47 with 9:03 to go in the fourth quarter. Gatewood hit wide receiver Phillip Bique with a long pass and Bique streaked 53 yards down the right sideline for the score. The point after gave El Cerrito the lead for good at 21-20. 

The Gauchos tacked on a 3-yard touchdown run by John Norman and a 2-point conversion for the final score with 5:47 to go in the game. 

Things looked rosy for St. Mary’s in the first half, as Murphy scampered for 1- and 5-yard touchdowns in the second quarter. 

A turnover also hurt the Panthers in the first half. Murphy fumbled a punt return, which led to El Cerrito’s first score – Gatewood’s 19-yard throw to James Cannon. 

With 39.2 seconds remaining in the first half, the Panthers blocked El Cerrito’s punt deep near El Cerrito’s own end zone, and Booker rumbled six yards to paydirt. Cannon blocked Brendan Slevin’s PAT, Cannon’s second block of the night, to keep the score at 20-7 at halftime. 

Things went downhill from there for St. Mary’s. 

A turnover also hurt the Panthers in the first half. Murphy fumbled a punt return, which led to El Cerrito’s first score – Gatewood’s 19-yard throw to James Cannon. 

With 39.2 seconds remaining in the first half, the Panthers blocked El Cerrito’s punt deep near El Cerrito’s own end zone, and Booker rumbled six yards to paydirt. Cannon blocked Brendan Slevin’s PAT, Cannon’s second block of the night, to keep the score at 20-7 at halftime. 

Things went downhill from there for St. Mary’s.