San Marcos wide receiver Ezekiel McIntyre scored three touchdowns Friday night in the Knights’ 28-14 home win over Poway. Add in 10 catches and 148 yards, and the senior playmaker had plenty to celebrate.
But for McIntyre, the night was marked not by the three times he found the end zone, but by the one time he gave the ball away.
“There’s things I still need to work on,” McIntyre told The Coast News after the game. “Even though I had three TDs, I fumbled and that’s the only thing I’m going to remember from the night.”
McIntyre’s big night began on the Knights’ opening offensive play. In muggy conditions, quarterback Jordan Roa found him for 33 yards, then connected with him again for 25 yards to set up first-and-goal. After two incompletions, Roa found McIntyre for a 5-yard touchdown and a 7-0 lead.
Roa and McIntyre connected again in the second quarter, this time for a 24-yard touchdown that put San Marcos ahead 14-0. Poway answered with an 8-yard rushing touchdown, but the Knights took a 14-7 lead into halftime.
The teams exchanged fumbles in the first half, with San Marcos’ Alonzo Rodriguez recovering a Poway fumble at the Knights’ 49-yard line.
The score stayed 14-7 through the third quarter before Mo Henderson scored on a 22-yard run early in the fourth. Roa and McIntyre connected for a third touchdown, a 12-yard score that pushed the lead to 28-7.
Poway closed out the scoring with a 39-yard touchdown pass from Levi Graham to Trevor Murphy.
“We still have things to clean up,” McIntyre said. “We are a very young team, but we are a team that loves to finish to the last whistle.”
For the Knights (2-1), McIntyre has 25 catches for 347 yards and five touchdowns this season, along with a 50-yard punt-return TD.
“The connection that Jordan Roa and I have is something everyone loves to see in a star QB and his receiver,” McIntyre said. “But it’s not just me getting the ball. We have other weapons that will get open too and get the ball. Jordan trusts me a lot because of our connection off the field.”
Next up for San Marcos: Sept. 18, 7 p.m., at San Pasqual.
North County Scoreboard
- Chandler 42, Cathedral Catholic 13
- Rancho Bernardo 21, Torrey Pines 14
- La Costa Canyon 41, Del Norte 24
- San Marcos 28, Poway 14
- Mission Hills 38, Oceanside 10
- Santa Fe Christian 70, Westview 0
- Carlsbad 40, El Camino 3
- Escondido 35, Sweetwater 33
- Madison 50, Vista 0
- San Pasqual 31, Rancho Buena Vista 21
