Del Campo ground game too much for Downey

James Milan and Anthony Rodigo are sledgehammers in Del Campo's grinding offense and they spent a rainy Friday afternoon banging away as Downey's defense crumbled.

"We're stronger and we will keep pounding and pounding at you, until you break," said Milan, whose 183-yard effort led a ground game that piled up 441 yards. "You win games like this in the weight room."

Del Campo used its superior strength to control the tempo on the way to its 34-12 rout of Downey in the Sac-Joaquin Section Division 2 playoff opener.

Del Campo (8-3) also forced four turnovers — including a trio of interceptions on deep throws by Aaron Zwahlen — and twice stopped Downey on downs inside the 5-yard line.

Once the Cougars grabbed a 14-0 lead in the first half, they gave the Knights a steady diet of Milan and Rodigo (20 carries, 182 yards, 4 TDs).

Downey's inside linebackers were neutralized much of the day by a blocking scheme that included a pulling guard and a lead blocker leading the running back through a hole.

"When they didn't have anyone over our guard, he would pull to take out a linebacker," said Milan, whose 63-yard TD made it 21-0 early in the third quarter. "I would take the other linebacker, walling him off with Anthony coming behind me. He'd do the same for me."

It was a familiar scene for a defense unable to contain the run or force an offense off the field in key games this year.

Del Campo had 71 plays, including 63 runs for 441 yards. It had 40 plays for 201 yards at the half; Downey had 21 plays for just 77 yards in the first 24 minutes.

"It's difficult to get into the rhythm for our passing game if we can't get on the field," Conner Purnell (four catches, 77 yards) said. "We need the defense to hold our water sometimes, and it didn't happen."

A few hundred fans were at Chuck Hughes Stadium for the 1 p.m. kickoff. Downey had turned down the option to play the game on Saturday.

Downey had a chance to cut its deficit in half early in the second quarter, facing fourth-and-1 at the 5. It lined up for an apparent field goal, but the snap was delayed — the tee couldn't be found — and the Knights looked confused.

It turns out, the kicking tee wasn't going to be necessary.

"We were going to shift out two linemen and try to draw them offsides, but word never got to the center. I had to run up to tell him," Purnell said.

It led to a delay of game penalty, taking the ball back to the 10. Del Campo then pressured Zwahlen into an incompletion.

"That told us a lot, that they didn't challenge us at the goal line," said Milan, who had 11 runs for 117 yards in the second half. "It's rainy and cold, but it's the playoffs. You need to be physical to win here."

Downey (8-3) gave Zwahlen little support, gaining just 13 yards on 21 carries before the junior scrambled for 24 in the fourth quarter. Juan Vaa-Ayala (14 carries, 17 yards) had minus-4 yards after halftime.

That forced Zwahlen to put the ball in the air, attempting to squeeze it into Del Campo's coverage schemes. Its aggressive secondary was muscling the receivers at the line, forcing them to alter their routes.

That contributed to three interceptions, as Zwahlen (14 of 38, 159 yards, TD) failed to see his receiver was being directed into the path of the safety.

Twice he cut in front of the receiver for an interception.

"Rain, cold, playoffs ... a lot of this is new for us," Zwahlen said. "We hadn't played in conditions like this, then we fall behind early and can't get in the end zone down there."

Unable to run, and with the back of the end zone acting as a defender, Zwahlen had very small gaps in which to throw the ball.

"We can press the receivers at the line because no one is going deep from the 10," said Milan, who doubled as an outside linebacker. "A quick bump on the receiver, and line pressure on the quarterback, and it throws off the whole play."