SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO — San Juan Hills used a dominant second quarter to turn a close game into a 42-7 rout of South Hills on Friday night at San Juan Hills High.

The highly-touted matchup of Division 4 foes did not live up to its billing, as Joey Hobert (three receptions, 175 yards) sparked a 21-point second quarter where the Washington State-bound senior recorded an interception and scored a pair of touchdowns.

San Juan Hills coach Robert Frith acknowledged Hobert’s impact was crucial to the game, but he also liked what he saw collectively from his team.

“He’s a special player that makes a difference every week” Frith said of Hobert. “But he was one of a cast of characters tonight that did very well.”

Stallions quarterback Hudson Jones and running back Austin Hogan were part of the cast that supported Hobert’s star-like effort.

Jones threw for 305 yards and three touchdowns, which included completing his first 14 passes, and Hogan ran for 93 yards and two touchdowns.

“Our team tonight, came out like a team that was on a mission” Frith said.

South Hills (2-1), which beat San Juan Hills (2-1) last season 19-7 en route to the Division 6 CIF championship, struggled without its starting running back Juaquin Elliot, who was out with an injured ankle.

South Hills coach Danilo Robinson expected a much closer game, but he said the loss could be a valuable lesson in the long run.

“Give them credit, they played hard,” Robinson said of San Juan Hills. “They took advantage of our mistakes, and sometimes you need to get smacked around like we did tonight and learn from it.”

The Huskies trailed 7-0 midway through the first, but started moving the ball late in the opening quarter as quarterback Khalil Ali got the offense going.

South Hills was near the red zone and looking to tie the game at the start of the second quarter, but that is when San Juan Hills’ defense took over.

Elliot DeGroote and Tyler Wegis combined on a sack and two plays later Ali was intercepted by Hobert at the 4.

A 41-yard catch by James Gaines helped the Stallions put together a 96-yard scoring drive. Austin Hogan scored on a 1-yard screen pass from Hudson Jones to make it 14-0.

The Huskies had no answer for the big-play ability of Hobert. He turned a short slant pass into a 85-yard touchdown catch by making several defenders miss with an elusive, direction-changing run down the right sideline.

Hobert and Jones also hooked up for a 44-yard score with 46 seconds left in the half to give the Stallions a 28-0 halftime advantage.

South Hills’ only score of the game came on Steven Munoz’s 3-yard run in the fourth quarter.

The Huskies will look to rebound next week against Monrovia, while San Juan Hills faces Edison on Friday, Sept. 13 at Huntington Beach High School Stadium.