Original Article in the San Gabriel Valley Tribune
By Pete Marshall Staff Writer

RIVERSIDE - The short break at halftime seemed to make all the difference for Damien on Friday night.

After a scoreless first half marked by missed opportunities, Ryan McMahon returned the second-half kickoff 94 yards for a touchdown and Damien went on to beat Riverside Poly, 25-7, in the season opener for both schools at Riverside Community College.

"We have room for improvement," Damien coach Scott Morrison said. "But this is a (Poly) team that is much better than last year. They run a different system (with new coach Jeff Huerta) that we were able to see at the junior varsity level, which we knew they would run better at varsity."

There were plenty of question marks about Damien, some of which were answered Friday night.

Senior Danny Pertusati, who played mostly safety last year as the backup to quarterback Mark Mendrun, directed the offense effectively in the second half.

Pertusati was 16-of-22 passing for 179 yards and one touchdown (31 yards to Taylor Herrera), while rushing for 43 yards and two more touchdowns (21 and 14 yards).

"That was his first start, and he's a competitor," Morrison said. "We don't need to put any extra pressure on him, in fact we need him to relax. I think he was able to do that a little."

With the score tied 7-7 in the third quarter, Pertusati directed scoring drives of 52, 31 and 48 yards to help put the game out of reach.

Herrera caught eight passes for 90 yards Friday.

There were questions about the running game, which was without starter Marcus Williams, who broke his leg in preseason practice.

Dale Sauter and Phillip Sainz combined to carry the ball 21 times for just 82 yards in the first game in Williams' absence.