HILMAR -- The Hilmar offense had already broken the huddle when Frank Marques and his staff shouted for an audible.
The Yellowjackets barely had time to get set at the line, scrambling to snap the ball before a delay of game penalty.
Quarterback Andrew Olson got the play off with seconds to spare and the Hilmar staff looked like geniuses as Zack Giuliano took a counter 62 yards for a touchdown.
It was a sign of things to come from Giuliano.
The senior fullback entered the game with only 237 rushing yards on the season, but almost doubled that total on Friday night.
He combined with running back Garrett Jericoff for 337 yards and five scores as Hilmar rode the Power I right into next week's Sac-Joaquin Section Division 4 title game with a 37-7 rout of Liberty Ranch.
Hilmar will get a rematch against Trans-Valley League rival Escalon, who defeated Central Catholic 24-17 in the other semifinal.
"I saw they were shifted way over," said Marques of the first-quarter audible. "We have that counter built into the offense, so it was an easy switch.
"Ball control was the key tonight. Zack and Garrett ran the ball well and the offensive line completely dominated, keeping their back off the field."
The key for the Yellowjackets coming into the game was slowing down the Hawks' 2,000-yard back John Wiernicki.
The senior answered Giuliano's big run with a 67-yard TD scamper of his own on Liberty Ranch's next play from scrimmage.
The score cut Hilmar's lead to 10-7 at the end of the first quarter, but the Yellowjacket defense silenced Wiernicki the rest of the way.
He carried eight more times in the game for just 5 yards and finished up with 88 total.
"That's the best running back we're ever going to face, so to hold him to just that one big run was amazing," Jericoff said. "Once we stopped him, there wasn't much they could do."
Hilmar, on the other hand, had no trouble offensively, scoring on its first six possessions.
Giuliano (210 yards on 17 carries) was particularly effective, breaking six runs of 10 yards or more, mostly on the same counter.
The fullback added touchdown runs of 1, 14 and 35 yards as Hilmar took a 23-7 lead into intermission.
"I probably haven't carried the ball that many times since last season, but I was told I'd have a big role on offense and defense," Giuliano said. "I have to give all the props to our offensive line. They played the game of their lives, and hopefully they can do it again next week."
Hilmar put the game out of reach with its opening drive of the second half. The Yellowjackets almost had to punt, but Liberty Ranch got called for 12 players on the field, extending the drive.
Hilmar took advantage, eating up 8 minutes off the clock and finishing it off with a Jericoff (26 carries, 127 yards) 8-yard TD run.
"I thought that was the defining series in the game," Marques said. "We ate up two-thirds of the quarter and kind of deflated them with the score."
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