Oxnard, CA — The moment he heard the play call, Savion Taylor knew it was time to change the game. The 6-foot sophomore went up between two defenders to pull down a 29-yard Dominic Duran touchdown pass with 5:46 to play as the Pacifica High football team held off visiting Oxnard High, 23-14, Friday night in the 21st Gonzales Road rivalry game. “I was like ‘Right, I’m going to go get it,’ ” the sophomore receiver said. “Be patient. Locate the ball. Lock it in.” On a night nothing was easy for either rival, that was the moment the Tritons locked in their first three-game winning streak in the north Oxnard rivalry. “It’s a big-time play,” Pacifica coach Mike Moon said. “That’s why he’s a D-1 guy. … He makes those big-boy contested catches.” Sophomore Savion Taylor caught six passes for 81 yards and a touchdown in Pacifica's 23-14 win over visiting Oxnard Friday night. Taylor caught six passes for 82 yards and a touchdown, Josh Joyner ran for 137 yards and a touchdown on 25 carries and Derrick Mejia kicked three field goals as the Tritons (7-2) improved to 6-1 in the Channel League to stay in a first-place tie with Rio Mesa and Santa Barbara. Oxnard (4-5, 2-5) still leads the all-time series, 15-6. Despite being forced to shift its ground-and-pound game plan when they lost senior running back Diego Velasco to an ankle injury during the week, the Yellowjackets took a lead in the second quarter and pushed their rivals deep into the final minutes. “We don’t fear them,” Oxnard head coach Jamie Moreno said. “Other teams do. We know they’re good. We respect them. But the fear is not there and we showed it tonight.” Six-foot senior Eli Aragon caught seven passes for 92 yards, including several of the highlight-reel variety, to keep drives alive and senior Elijah Davis and sophomore Isaiah Dillon caught touchdown passes for Oxnard. “We have guys that can compete with anybody,” Moreno said. “They played their butts off and they left it all on the field.” Sophomores took every snap for both Oxnard schools. Oxnard’s Poni Maria, whose older brother R.J. led Pacifica to a CIF State championship in 2019, completed 14 of 24 passes for 164 yards. Duran and Tagg Harrison combined to complete 13 of 18 passes for 137 yards for Pacifica. “They’re a big-play offense and we knew that if we eliminated the big play, we’d stay in it,” Moreno said. “We had a great defensive game plan and we stuck with it. A lot of people thought they’d blow us out of the water, but far from it.” After struggling offensively in last week’s loss to Rio Mesa, Pacifica responded by giving Joyner, its dynamic junior, his first start at running back. Joyner's 25 carries were a career high. “He's a physical kid,” Moon explained. “But you can’t beat a running back to death. We really want to make a run with this team. Josh has to be healthy going into it." Joyner, held without a yard rushing by Rio Mesa, had gone to the offensive coaches during the week to ask for a bigger share of the lead. "I was mad about the last game," Joyner. "I was trying to get the ball more so I could produce more and help the team out more than I usually do." Although his only breakaway run, a 35-yard TD early in the fourth quarter, was nullified by a downfield holding penalty, the 5-foot-10, 170-pound junior showed he could carry a heavy load on a big occasion. “It means a lot,” Joyner said. “They’re the school down the street.” Washington-bound middle linebacker Jordan Whitney had 18 tackles and linebacker Budder Aina and safety Dayday Aupiu added 12 and 11 tackles, respectively, as the Pacifica defense held Oxnard to just 14 yards rushing on 24 carries. Whitney, Alexander Villa and Antoine Henderson had sacks for the Tritons. After Pacifica took an early 3-0 lead on Mejia’s 33-yard field goal, Aragon reeled in Maria passes of 20 and 30 yards to set up Maria’s 6-yard TD pass to Davis, which gave Oxnard a 7-3 lead with 3:34 left in the first half. Pacifica responded with a two-minute drill to take a 10-7 halftime lead. Joyner’s 1-yard TD run with 49 seconds left in the half capped an 11-play, 78-yard drive. Taylor reeled in a 20-yard Duran pass on third-and-8 to set up Mejia’s second field goal of the game from 32 yards, which inched the Pacifica lead to 13-7 with 4:19 left in the third quarter. Harrison, Mejia’s holder, made a key play on a high snap. “I couldn’t do it without my holder and my long snapper,” Mejia said. “Those are the two most important roles in kicking. … I can’t take all the credit.” In search of another lead, Oxnard drove to the Pacifica 39, but Pacifica cornerback Jesse Taylor Jr. ended the threat by breaking up Maria’s fourth-down pass along the sidelines. Nine plays later, just after a holding flag threatened to leave Pacifica empty-handed, Savion Taylor reeled in Duran’s fade on third-and-goal from the Oxnard 29, extending the lead to 20-6 with 5:46 left. “My team is counting on me every week, every play,” Taylor said, “so I’ve got to go make that.” Oxnard’s answer was an 11-play, 75-yard drive capped by a 19-yard Maria scoring strike to Dillon, which pulled the Yellowjackets within 20-14 with 2:45 left. But Joyner’s 33-yard sprint set up Mejia’s clinching field goal from 34 yards with 33.8 seconds to play. “He’s an accurate, ice-in-my-veins type guy,” Moon said. “Derrick is clutch.”