The College of San Mateo offense has been in a groove the first two weeks of the season, averaging 446 yards and 30.5 points per game.

Saturday in the Bulldogs’ home game against West Hills, the offense continued to hum along while the defense showed it is a unit not to be overlooked. While the Bulldog’s offense racked up over 500 yards, the defense held the Falcons to just 284 yards of total offense and kept them off the scoreboard in a 49-0 Bulldogs’ win.

Overall, it was the Bulldogs’ best effort of the season.

“The offense has played well all three games,” said CSM head coach Larry Owens. “This was the first time it was offense, defense and special teams (playing well).”

The defense, which gave up 42 points last week in a 42-40 loss to College of the Sequoias, played with a purpose Saturday. The unit allowed only four first downs in the first half, held the Falcons to just 1 for 13 on third-down attempts and did not let West Hills inside the Bulldogs’ 20-yard line.

Despite the dominating effort, they’re not content.

“They didn’t score but we still have a lot to do,” said Joey Guntren, starting linebacker and co-captain. “Obviously we got better (from last week), but there’s always mistakes and we have to clean those up.

“(But) it was a good step for the defense.”

The offense, meanwhile, put the game away early. CSM (2-1) scored on two of its first three possessions to take a 14-0 lead after the first quarter. Slot back E.J. Boganey hauled in a 19-yard pass for the first points of the game while receiver Ryan Higgins made it 14-0 by corralling a 12-yard scoring strike. The Bulldogs found pay dirt again on the second play of the second quarter when receiver Jimmy King caught a 24-yard scoring pass.

All three touchdowns came courtesy of quarterback Julian Edelman, a freshman out of Woodside who was making his first college start. He came off the bench in the first two games of the season.

“I had some butterflies, but I’ve been playing this game since I was eight years old,” Edelman said. “We scored on our first drive which I really wanted to do.”

Edelman showed nerves of steel in guiding the offense for most of the first three quarters. He led the team in rushing with 79 yards on 13 carries while completing 9 of 14 passes for 136 yards and four touchdowns.

“We wanted to work on throwing,” Edelman said. “The last couple of games we hadn’t been throwing much.”

Owens said the passing game is a work in progress but that it’s coming along.

“That’s an emphasis we have to have to have balance. A lot of times it’s execution in the game,” Owens said. “We just have to get the timing down.”

The Bulldogs put the game away in the third quarter, scoring 28 points, scoring on their first four second-half possessions. Ryan Faumuina showed some nifty moves in running 40 yards for a 28-0 lead. After forcing a West Hills punt, CSM needed only one play to cover 54 yards. Edelman found Michael Harris down the middle of the field. Harris caught the ball in stride at the 25 before getting a crunching block from James Bassett that broke Harris loose for a 54-yard score.

That play ended Edelman’s day, but the CSM offense did not suffer any. Kevin Linnell, who started the first two games of the season, came in and led the Bulldogs’ on a three-play, 73-yard drive. On first down from the his own 39, Linnell hooked up with King for a 61-yard scoring strike. An Isa Hines 12-yard run late in the third quarter ended the scoring for the day.

It also allowed Jose Avina to see his first action at quarterback this season. A red-shirt freshman out of San Mateo, Avina led the Bulldogs on two long, time-consuming drives. Although the Bulldogs didn’t score on those drives, they could have, electing to go for first downs on fourth downs deep in West Hills territory instead of going for field goals.

In all, CSM’s three quarterbacks accounted for 336 yards (139 rushing, 197 passing) of the Bulldogs’ 551 yards of offense.

“I was impressed with all of them. They do a good job of running the offense,” Owens said. “It’s still good to see three guys run the show and remain productive.”