HILMAR -- Andrew Olson's first two forays into the playoffs didn't go well.
The Hilmar quarterback stepped in for the injured Quinton McCown as a sophomore just to be sent packing by Escalon in the first round.
In his first game back from a broken arm last season, Olson and the Yellowjackets got rolled by Argonaut in the opening round.
The senior was determined to show Hilmar has a little more staying power this time around.
The Hilmar offense scored on its first three possessions and five times in the opening half as Olson completed 6 of 7 passes for 152 yards and three touchdowns in the first two quarters.
Hilmar cruised from there to a 41-14 victory over Linden in the first round of the Sac-Joaquin Section Division 4 playoffs on Friday night.
Hilmar will host Livingston, which upset Ripon 12-10, in the second round.
"There's always a little bit of doubt or nervous energy before a game, where you know you can play with the other team, but you're not sure until you do it," Olson said. "So it was nice to start fast the way we did.
"I think the bye was the best thing that could have happened to us. We got refocused, and it showed in the first half."
The Hilmar defense surrendered a little more than 50 yards of total offense in the first half, giving the Yellowjacket offense multiple opportunities with short fields.
Garrett Jericoff (11 carries for 90 yards) got the scoring started with a 26-yard touchdown run on Hilmar's opening possession.
Olson followed with touchdown passes of 60 and 37 yards to Zach Giuliano and Jesse Burke, respectively, on the next two possessions.
Kurtis Bettencourt made it 28-0 with an 8-yard run in the second quarter. Olson finished off the first-half scoring after a blocked punt handed Hilmar (9-2) the ball at the Lions' 21-yard line with 25 seconds to play in the half.
Olson wasted no time, hitting Tyler Silva for a 21-yard scoring strike on the next play.
"The offense had a great start and the defense just shut them down," Hilmar head coach Frank Marques said. "Field position was the key. Kurtis' kicking and the defense's stops gave us short fields.
"It's easy to call the offense when you have a short field to play with."
Quarterback Daniel Snider got Linden (5-6) on the board in the second half, catching a 5-yard halfback pass for a score and then tossing a 36-yard TD pass to Jeff Morris.
Bettencourt drilled field goals of 39 and 40 yards to round out the scoring.
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