Marana’s Matthew Jensen leaves the Badger defense in the dust on his way to a touchdown in the third quarter Friday night. Jensen had four touchdowns in the Tigers’ 48-7 victory.

 Kelly Presnell photos, Arizona Daily Star

For the first time in three years, the Marana High School football team has started the season 3-0 after the Tigers cruised by Tucson High 48-7 on Friday night at Rollin T. Gridley Stadium.

The Tigers remain unbeaten under first-year head coach Phillip Steward, a former standout linebacker for the University of Houston.

After beating Mountain View 13-12 in the season opener, the Tigers have beaten their last two opponents by a combined 109-7.

β€œIt was a good win for us,” Steward said. β€œAfter scoring a lot early on last week, one thing we wanted to do this week was start fast, and if we start fast, it gives these guys confidence throughout the game.”

Marana junior quarterback Elijah Joplin, who was named a Star Top 22 player entering this season, led the way for the Tigers with 304 passing yards and four touchdowns. Marana running back Matthew Jensen, who Steward referred to as a β€œmotor horse,” also scored four all-purpose touchdowns β€” two receiving, two rushing β€” in the win.

β€œHe just goes, even at practice,” Steward said of Jensen. β€œHe just goes and goes and goes. He was like, β€˜Get me a touchdown,’ so we handed it to him and just let him go to work. He was like, β€˜Coach, I want another one,’ so we gave it to him again.’ As long as he’s running like that, we’re going to keep giving him the ball.”

Joplin set the tone early in the game with a 12-yard run on fourth-and-long, and followed it up with a 28-yard touchdown to junior wide receiver Sam Brown to give the Tigers a 7-0 lead.

Tucson’s Brendon Dawson gets a piece of the ball forcing an incomplete pass from Marana’s quarterback Elijah Joplin in the first quarter. Joplin threw for 304 yards and four touchdowns.

Just before the end of the first quarter, Joplin connected with Jensen on a screen pass for a 13-yard touchdown to make it 14-0. On the following drive, Charles Ebunoha took a pass from Joplin 36 yards for a touchdown.

After Marana leapt to a 21-0 lead, Tucson High briefly got a defensive spark, when linebacker Dezmond Benitez intercepted a pass from Joplin and returned it for a touchdown, but an unnecessary roughness penalty nixed the score. Two plays later, Marana defensive back Jalen Collins intercepted a pass to halt the Badgers’ momentum just before halftime.

Jensen tacked on his first rushing touchdown with just over a minute until halftime, and Marana’s Alonzo Loree returned an interception for a touchdown to take a 34-0 lead after two quarters.

The Tigers produced 309 yards of total offense in the first half compared to Tucson High’s 90.

β€œOur offense was clicking in the first half,” Joplin said. β€œThe (offensive) line was doing their thing, receivers were catching balls, Matt was doing his thing and I think everyone was just on the same page.”

Tucson High scored its first points of the game, when running back Prince Mugisha rushed for a 6-yard touchdown. That would be the only scoring from the Badgers.

Up next, Marana will take on Flowing Wells on the road next Friday, while Tucson High (0-3) will host Phoenix South Mountain.

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Contact sports producer Justin Spears at 573-4312 or jspears@tucson.com. On Twitter: @JustinESports