Owen O'Leary runs for a touchdown during the Tritons' 56-17 win over Ida Baker Friday night. O'Leary threw for five touchdowns, tying a school record, and ran for two more. CJ HADDAD

The floodgates opened for the Mariner offense Friday night versus Ida Baker, as the Tritons put up 49 first-half points en route to a 56-17 district win.

Junior quarterback Owen O’Leary played a role in seven of the eight total touchdowns for Mariner (2-4), rushing for two and passing for five. Senior wide-out Kaelan Davidson also had a big night for the Tritons, catching three touchdowns and returning an interception 100 yards for a score.

“It feels good to finally be on the right side of it,” said Mariner head coach Brian Staats. “We did some things better and gained a little confidence. We were able to get some things accomplished, and it was a good night. We might be coming into our own a little bit. We’ll see.”

Mariner wasted little time putting up points, as O’Leary capped off a drive that started on the Ida Baker 48 with a 3-yard run into the end zone. On the ensuing possession, O’Leary once again used his legs to find paydirt, scrambling up the right sideline and making defenders miss on the way to a 28-yard rushing score.

Mariner took to the air before the first stanza finished, as O’Leary hooked up with Jamarion Corbett for a 29-yard touchdown, with Corbett doing a great job of keeping his feet in bounds at the back of the end zone.

The Bulldogs (0-6) fumbled the kickoff back to Mariner, putting the Tritons on the Ida Baker 18, and O’Leary found Davidson for their first of three hook-ups on the first play to take a 28-0 lead into the second quarter.

“Our guys didn’t come prepared,” said Ida Baker head coach Steve Howard. “I’m just going to call it how it is. They didn’t handle the adversity.”

Ida Baker was on the Tritons’ doorstep early in the second quarter, but Davidson picked off a Waylon Squires pass on the goal line and brought it all the way back for a 100-yard pick-six.

“It was just like a blur to me,” Davidson said of the interception return. “I just caught the ball and next thing I know I’m just running downfield. I had good blockers to set me up for that touchdown, so I appreciate them.”

Davidson then caught his second touchdown of the night on the Tritons’ next possession, this time a 34-yard reception over the middle.

The Bulldogs got on the scoreboard late in the second, when an attempted field goal snap went awry, and kicker/wide-out Reed Verblaauw corralled the loose ball and ran it all the way down to the Mariner 2-yard line. Elias Vargas finished the drive off for the Bulldogs.

The Tritons found a way into the end zone before the half, though, as O’Leary found Davidson from 2 yards out.

“I’m feeling great out there,” O’Leary said. “The O-line did a great job. A lot of improvement. But it’s not over. We got to put the pedal to the metal.

“The play calling was great. We adjusted to the defense and executed all night.”

On the team’s chemistry as of late, Davidson said, “It’s been really great. We have a lot of weapons out there from every position on offense.”

A running clock in the second half saw Ida Baker do some good things in the third quarter. Verblaauw found Carter Long for a 50-plus yard touchdown on a trick play, and he nailed a field goal from 30 yards out.

“Great kid,” Howard said of Verblauuw, “When you talk about a kid that does all the right things. When you talk about a high-quality character kid, that’s what happens when you’re a high-character kid, and things are done right, that’s what happens.”

O’Leary tied a school record with his fifth touchdown pass of the night on a 10-yard strike to Corbett in the fourth quarter.

“It feels great,” O’Leary said of tying a school record. “I wish I could have beat it.”

Staats said it was a positive to see his playmakers step up and get a contribution from various members of the offense.

“When we see things well, we can go to a bunch of guys,” he said. “If they overload one, we have someone else who can pick it up. Even over the course of the game and they change coverage, if they try to stop somebody, somebody else becomes open. It’s a good problem to have to be able to spread it around.”

Mariner picks up its first district win in its first district game. Staats said he hopes they can continue to hit their stride as the schedule progresses.

“I think it gives us a little confidence,” he said. “Some confidence that we can do some things offensively that maybe we didn’t do. On defense, I think we got some things cleaned up as well. Having some confidence in what we were doing tonight — growing from that and shoring some things up and adding some things opponents haven’t seen. And we’ll go from there.”

Both teams will have a bye week next week before continuing the schedule and district competition.

1 2 3 4 F

IDA BAKER 0 7 10 0 — 17

MARINER 28 21 0 7 — 56

1st Quarter

M: Owen O’Leary, 3-yard run (Milano Hlavina kick); 8:33

M: O’Leary, 28-yard run (Hlavina kick); 5:46

M: Jamarion Corbett, 29-yard reception from O’Leary (Hlavina kick); 1:45

M: Kaelan Davidson ,18-yard reception from O’Leary (Hlavina kick); 1:28

2nd Quarter

M: Davidson, 100-yard interception return (Hlavina kick); 10:06

M: Davidson, 34-yard reception from O’Leary (Hlavina kick); 6:48

IB: Elias Vargas 2-yard run (Reed Verblaauw kick); 2:37

M: Davidson, 2-yard reception from O’Leary (Hlavina kick); 0:01

3rd Quarter

IB: Carter Long, 55-yard reception from Verblaauw (Verblaauw kick); 9:40

IB: Verblaauw ,30-yard field goal; 0:03

4th Quarter

M: Corbett, 10-yard reception from O’Leary (Hlavina kick); 8:40