SAN DIEGO – A California lineup featuring seven starting underclassmen scored 73 unanswered points, 66 in the second half, to defeat the Aztecs, 85-10, Saturday at San Diego State.
 
Early tries were tries traded between SDSU outside center Nicolas Lupian and sophomore Cal flanker Thomas Spradling, sophomore prop Damon Wiley dotted down five minutes later and Aztec scrumhalf Nicolas Luppi booted a 37-meter penalty kick (1-for-1) to add to his earlier conversion (1-for-1) before the Golden Bears (7-0, 0-0 PAC) scored 11 unanswered tries on a warm day in front of a strong turnout of alumni and fans of the Blue and Gold.
 
The Aztecs (0-3, 0-1 Calif.) could find no response once the Bears found their footing after struggling with handling errors and adjusting to the referee early in the contest.
 
"Not a great first 40 minutes for us," said head coach Jack Clark. "Give the Aztecs credit, but in fairness to our players, I don't think any of them had ever played in a match with no offside lines. We regrouped at halftime, made some adjustments and played pretty well in the second half."
 
Five of the Bears' tries were scored by forwards, including two by hooker Jack Iscaro in his first start of the spring.
 
"You try to be prepared, week in and week out, whether you start the match or come off the bench," said Iscaro. "The expectations are the same when you put on that jersey."
 
Off the tee, Jamie Howells went 4-for-5 before yielding to Elliot Webb (6-for-8) for conversion duties.
 
Next up is a midweek match under the lights on The Farm in the annual match for the Scrum Axe, as the Cardinal hosts Cal at Stanford on Wednesday night, Feb. 7, at 6:30 p.m. It will then be a quick turnaround before the Bears welcome fans back to Witter Rugby Field Saturday, Feb. 10, for Parents Weekend as the Blue and Gold host a doubleheader vs. Cal Maritime at 11 a.m. and Utah Valley University at 1 p.m.
 
The Scoring Timeline vs. San Diego State
 
12:00 SDSU (Nicolas Lilian) 5, (Nicolas Luppi) 2
 
25:00 Thomas Spradling 5, Jamie Howells 2
 
29:00 Damon Wiley 5
 
34:00 SDSU (Nicolas Luppi) 3
 
38:00 Marcus Shankland 5, Jamie Howells 2
 
Halftime Score: California 19, San Diego State 10
 
42:00 Christian Dyer 5, Jamie Howells 2
 
44:00 Jack Iscaro 5, Jamie Howells 2
 
50:00 Jack Iscaro 5, Elliot Webb 2
 
55:00 Elliot Webb 5, 2
 
60:00 Thomas Robles 5, Elliot Webb 2
 
68:00 Marcus Shankland 5
 
72:00 Zachary Tavenner 5, Elliot Webb 2
 
74:00 Christian Dyer 5, Elliot Webb 2
 
76:00 Marcus Shankland 5
 
80:00 Kevin Saunders 5, Elliot Webb 2
 
Final Score: California 85, San Diego State 10
 
The Team vs. San Diego State
 
15. Shankland, 14. Cusano, 13. Roeske (Dyer @ 40:00), 12. Tongilava (Saunders @ 70:00), 11. Tavenner, 10. Howells (E. Webb @ 50:00), 9. Andrade, 8. Robles, 7. Mirhashem, 6. Spradling, 5. Bader (Salter @ 75:00), 4. Casey, 3. Wiley (Baylor @ 62:00), 2. Iscaro (Joyce @ 75:00), 1. Sullivan