Buhach Colony hangs 60 points on El Capitan. Thunder ready for Pitman and Merced.

Seven different Buhach Colony High players scored touchdowns as the Thunder dominated El Capitan 60-13 on Friday night at Stadium ’76.

Buhach Colony (4-3 overall, 2-1 Central California Conference) took control of the game on the opening kickoff as Isaiah Long picked up the ball near the right sideline, ran across the field and straight for the end zone for a 79-yard touchdown to start the scoring barrage.

“I just tried to make something out of nothing,” said Long, who later scored on a 70-yard reception. “There was nothing to the right so I went left, I cut back and saw green.”

Long’s kickoff return was a foreshadowing for the rest of the night.

The Gauchos (2-5, 1-2) offered little resistance as the Thunder scored 45 points in the first half as they scored on five of their six offensive possessions.

The Thunder marched 62 yards on 10 plays on their second possession as John Buttrey scored on a 6-yard touchdown run. Clay Abrams then found LJ Wallace in the end zone for a two-point conversion to extend the lead to 16-0 with 6:25 left in the opening quarter.

Here’s another telling statistic: The Thunder were 4-for-4 on two-point conversions in the first half.

Friday marked the first time players who transferred from another school could play. This game featured three players who transferred from Stone Ridge Christian. All three of them scored touchdowns in their debuts.

Jacko Tanori played his first game for the Gauchos and carried the ball 22 times for 104 yards and a 12-yard touchdown run that pulled El Capitan within 16-7 with 4:18 left in the first quarter.

After another long kickoff return, Buhach Colony answered with a Stone Ridge Christian transfer of its own as Trey Paster ran in a reverse for a 12-yard touchdown run that extended the lead to 24-7 with 4:05 left in the first quarter.

Fellow SRC transfer Owen Thomas later added 1-yard touchdown run in the third quarter for Buhach Colony.

“The addition of those two guys (Paster and Thomas) is going to help,” said Buhach Colony coach Kevin Navarra. “They’ve come in and worked their butts off, knowing they were going to have to sit out a period of time. It means everybody is going to have to take advantage of their opportunities when given. There is only going to be so many touches. Playing time is not going to be guaranteed. Everybody is going to have to show us in practice and then you have to be able to perform in games.”

The Thunder outscored El Capitan 21-0 in the second quarter as Christian Quirarte ran in a 5-yard touchdown midway through the second quarter to give BC a 32-7 lead. Youlas Dickson added a 26-yard touchdown run.

Long then turned a near interception into a 70-yard touchdown catch just before the half. Abrams threw a deep pass that went through the hands of an El Capitan defense back and into the hands of Long, who caught the ball and raced the rest of the way for the touchdown.

“I was a little shocked it made it to me,” Long said.

Long’s touchdown gave the Thunder a 45-7 lead and the rout was on.

Buhach Colony is now 3-0 against El Capitan and has outscored the Gauchos 141-13 in the three games.

Immediately after the game, Navarra talked to his players about how crucial the next two games are for their playoff hopes with Pitman and Merced next on the schedule.

“To get where we want to go, which is the postseason, the road goes through Pitman and Merced,” Navarra said.

This story was originally published October 6, 2017 at 10:43 PM with the headline "Buhach Colony hangs 60 points on El Capitan. Thunder ready for Pitman and Merced.."