SAN MARCOS — Palomar College football team’s long snapper Blake Drucker described the Comets’ game-winning field goal against El Camino College, the No. 20 team in the state’s 3C2A rankings, on Saturday as “waves crashing against a steel door.”
“You can feel the intensity, you can feel the pressure, you can see what’s happening, but it never gets inside and throws you off unless you let it in,” Drucker, who graduated from El Camino High School in Oceanside last spring, told The Coast News. “That’s the beauty of being a specialist in these moments.”
The pressure was real. After linebacker Tanner Doyle recovered an El Camino fumble on third-and-15 in overtime, Palomar’s offense failed to advance, leaving the game in its kicking unit’s hands. Sophomore Carson Beard had already seen one field goal blocked and missed another, but he converted from 43 yards to secure a 24-21 victory.
Drucker’s snap was so clean that holder Taylor McCall didn’t need to spin the ball. The play reflected the hours the specialists had spent preparing for that moment.
“Just like we had practiced hundreds if not thousands of times since late June. Carson’s ability to stay calm serves him well, even with not having the game he wanted, he still stayed positive, stayed ready,” Drucker said. “He’s a football guy, and that’s the type of teammate you go to war for.”
North County high school graduates figured prominently in the victory. Mission Hills alum Jonathan Class led Palomar with eight tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss and two quarterback hurries.
Doyle, a La Costa Canyon graduate, had seven tackles, a half-sack and a pass breakup in addition to his overtime fumble recovery. Fellow LCC alum Santiago Singh-Kim intercepted two passes and returned them 30 yards.
On offense, Poway graduate and quarterback Noah Schuback scored a rushing touchdown, while former El Camino High receiver Jathan Bejarano caught two passes for 23 yards.
Freshman running back Bowyn Cannon, an Escondido High graduate, appreciates having familiar faces around him.
“It feels good to have the familiarity of some North County kids,” Cannon said.
Freshman defensive back Aidan Smith-McGlynn, a Cathedral Catholic graduate, said the shared background has helped bring the group together.
“A lot of the players played for North County teams, and I think that our biggest bond,” Smith-McGlynn said. “Most of the kids that are on the team played in San Diego, and we’ve known each other in our four years of high school which is awesome that we finally get to play as a team together.”
Smith-McGlynn and Singh-Kim have a more specific connection. In 2024, they lined up on opposite sides in the CIF Open Division semifinals, when Cathedral Catholic faced La Costa Canyon. Now, they share Palomar’s defensive backfield.
“He was a dog at LCC and is a dog at Palomar,” Smith-McGlynn said.
Palomar improved to 3-4 overall and 1-3 in league play with Saturday’s win. Three regular-season games remain, beginning with a road matchup against Saddleback on Saturday. The Comets host Chaffey on Oct. 31 before visiting Mt. San Jacinto on Nov. 7.
Smith-McGlynn believes the team can still contend for a conference title and a state championship.
“We are on track to becoming the best team in our conference and win state,” he said. “I feel like we only lose not from other teams but from ourselves.”
