Yes, everybody knew going into it that it’d be a lopsided affair and, like most of Hart’s games, Howell played a big-time role, rushing for 231 yards and three TDs, the first of which came on a 49-yard run less than a minute into the game.
Normally, a game like that would be something to rave about. Unfortunately, all I’m going to say is let’s see if Howell can do something like that against Loyola this week.
But Howell wasn’t the only guy who played a role in a blowout.
Even though starting RB John Lister went down with a leg injury early in the game, the Lancers utilized the talent of QB Ian Shultis and RB Evan Yabu to comeback from a 13-3 deficit and post an important victory. Shultis completed 15 of 20 passes for 188 yards and a TD and Yabu rushed for 160 yards and a TD to prove the Lancers are capable of challenging for a playoff spot in what will be a hotly contested battle for top-three honors in the Marmonte League.
I think Thousand Oaks will be hard-pressed to win the race for the league’s final playoff spot, but who knows? The Lancers hung tough with Loyola and Atascadero and they beat a pretty good Camarillo team as well, so Moorpark and Simi Valley should definitely not underestimate them.
Some Orange County things that jumped out at me in Week 4:
Chad Miller of Foothill passed for two touchdowns and rushed for three, and Michael Camacho ran for three, in a 56-38 victory over El Modena. Both offenses made the defenses look offensive.
Ryan Wertenberger of Laguna Hills passed for 170 yards and three touchdowns in a 34-0 victory over Woodbridge. Laguna Hills’ new stadium gets christened with style.
Andy McDonald of Newport Harbor completed nine of 11 passes for 232 yards and a touchdown during a 28-14 victory over Dana Hills. Repeat those numbers back slowly and let it sink in.
With Wes Fletcher of Placentia Valencia out of the lineup with an ankle injury, Rickee Collins rushed for 167 yards in a 28-9 victory over Capistrano Valley. Maybe we ought to give that Tigers’ offensive line some love, eh?
Brad Curtis of San Clemente passed for three touchdowns -- all in the second quarter -- and ran for another in a 35-14 victory over El Toro. That’s a good night in just one quarter.
Derek Orman of Western scored on a 40-yard run and a 45-yard pass reception in a 28-3 victory over Tustin. I’ve always been a fan of long distance.
Noah Molnar of Corona del Mar intercepted four passes in a 22-14 victory over South El Monte. A junior, Molnar caught almost as many balls on defense as he has all season on offense (six).
Ramon Mejia of Anaheim kicked a 33-yard field goal with 39 seconds left to give the undefeated Colonists a 13-10 victory over Loara. Game-winning field goals seem like such a high school rarity.
Reid Williams of Esperanza rushed for 98 yards and four touchdowns in a 28-7 victory over Tesoro. You know, I sometimes wonder what kind of damage I could do in that Esperanza backfield.
Fine fourth-quarter form resulted in significant victories for Redondo and West Torrance in the fourth week of the season.
Redondo (2-2) earned a 20-13 decision over previously unbeaten Gardena Serra (3-1) after breaking a 13-13 tie with a nine-yard scoring run by senior fullback Joe Rubio with 46 seconds left in Friday's game, according to a story in the Daily Breeze. The victory is the Sea Hawks' second in a row and made up for a loss to Serra last season.
West Torrance (4-0) also broke a fourth-quarter deadlock, at 17-17, to beat rival South Torrance, 31-17, after senior running back Brian Baucham caught a 49-yard scoring pass and then rushed 61 yards for another touchdown in the final minutes.
The teams had tied, 14-14, last season, with West winning in 2005, and South winning the 2004 and 2003 meetings.
The latest edition of the annual game, it seems, was befitting a great rivalry.
Coach Rob Levy, in his 21st season at Belmont, said he can't recall another year when the Northern League race, on the surface, could be more wide open than the state of Montana.
"All six teams could win it," Levy said. "There are no weak links."
That includes his team. The Sentinels, now 4-0 after defeating South Gate, 47-21, on Friday, are off to their best start since 1993, when they went undefeated in the regular season.
Levy is quick to point out that Belmont has benefited from a soft schedule. The Sentinels' four opponents -- Contreras, Bell, Grant and South Gate -- are a combined 1-16, with Grant claiming the only win.
And should they get past winless Hollywood this week, they would open league play the following week against another 5-0 team, Eagle Rock.
"We have to play them one at a time. We're not good enough to look past anybody," Levy said. "But our defense has been a pleasant surprise. We didn't have any returning starters but it is improving every week. And we have some excellent skill guys. Six different players have scored touchdowns for us."
Among those standout skill players is quarterback Emilio Franco. The 5-9, 156-pound junior completed 12 of 19 passes for 164 yards on Friday. He threw three touchdown passes and ran for another score against South Gate.
"As a team, this group is playing as well as it can, and in some ways is exceeding its potential," Levy said.
Still, the Sentinels should have a better idea where they stand in two weeks.
With all due respect to Crespi, Mission Viejo and Long Beach Poly, it sure looks like the favorites for the Pac-5 Division championship are coming from the Trinity League.
For what it’s worth, Edison and Los Alamitos are the front-runners from the Sunset League.
Sure, Poly is still out there, and on a good night the Jackrabbits might beat one of the elite teams. But so far, Poly hasn’t exactly established itself as a team that can play four quarters against such competition.
Mission Viejo? The Diablos have beaten their one Southland opponent, 34-14, but last I looked, no one was comparing Redondo to Edison -- or Los Al.
Crespi continues to be impressive, despite the loss of quarterback Kevin Prince. But can a team that gave up 41 points (albeit to Corona Centennial) produce the kind of balance it takes to beat Mater Dei or Lutheran?
Something tells me that as long as Mater Dei and Lutheran remain healthy, the state’s best division is going to come down to these two teams.
I’ll get my first in-person look at Mater Dei (4-0) this week against Centennial, but there wasn’t anything unimpressive about Lutheran (5-0). Tight end Blake Ayles said his team’s offense can still step it up. He’s right, if the Lancers really need to score on every possession. Which they don’t. Against a quality program, senior quarterback Blake Hyepock –- who is as underrated as they come -– looked like the highly touted QB instead of his opponent, Clark Evans. Hyepock was sharp as a razor.
“I thought we rose to the occasion against the best team we’ve played, by far,” said Jim Kunau, Lutheran’s coach. “They’re a much better team than the score indicated.”
And that just goes to show how good Lutheran is. That’s not to say it couldn’t stumble. Remember, it was beaten in overtime last season by Servite. But I came away so impressed with the Lancers.
And this is a team that lost quarterback Aaron Corp (USC), defensive end Michael Reardon (USC) and receiver Austin Pettis (Boise State). They really were an unknown quantity coming into this season in terms of how good they really are. They’re not unknown any more.
And Mater Dei? The Monarchs finally played an opponent befitting their reputation –- and lived up the expectations. There’s a lot of football to be played, including Nov. 2 when they Mater Dei and Lutheran meet at Santa Ana Stadium. My guess is that it’s a preview of what’s to come a month later at the Home Depot Center.
Angelo Gasca acknowledges his Venice team hasn't won "the big one" yet, as in a City Section championship. And, he said, defending champion Birmingham deserves all the attention and respect it has received for its performance so far in 2007.
But Gasca also wants some attention for his undefeated team, especially after the Gondoliers overcame a 28-9 halftime deficit Friday to defeat Oaks Christian, 41-35, on the Lions' home field.
"We won a game we probably should have lost," said Gasca, as Venice improved to 4-0. "We down big at halftime, arguing among ourselves. The game, the season, could have easily been torn apart at the seams.
"But we come out, have a 17-play, 91-yard drive, and score a touchdown to start the third quarter. It took up 10 minutes. We score a touchdown to start the fourth quarter. We wound up scoring 25 points in the fourth quarter."
Pulling out a road win against a defending Southern Section champion gives Gasca another reason to believe Venice is a legitmate threat to Birmingham's reign.
But he and his coaching staff will do everything possible this week to keep the Gondoliers from feeling too satisfied with what they have accomplished.
"Beating Oaks Christian was a big win for our program," Gasca said. "I felt if we didn't beat Oaks Christian, people wouldn't be talking about us for a long time. People have grudgingly given us some respect. But if we want to be in the conversation with Birmingham we have to do something special.
"We want to do well in our league, try and get to the finals and take a shot. But there is so much more football to play. We will not look past Banning this week, who is playing well. I guarantee we will not be flat or down for Banning. Because we know a loss to Banning will negate a lot of what we've done."
So, who's this kid with the golden foot over at Chaminade? You know, the guy who knocked off defending Division I state bowl champs Canyon, 24-21, after he kicked a 37-yard field goal with 29 seconds left in the game?
Well, it turns out he's a freshman named Matt Goudis and he is, at least for this weekend, the most popular guy over at Chaminade.
Of course, none of this comes as a surprise to Chaminade Coach Anthony Harris. He already has put a level of trust on Goudis' shoulders that is normally reserved for battle-hardened seniors.
"I knew he was good when we did an OT session in a scrimmage against Agoura and he made a bunch of [field goals]," Harris said. "He also made one against Chatsworth last week, so I knew he could make it when he went out there."
Harris didn't bother getting preachy with his new kicker. As the clock winded down and the Eagles got into field-goal position, all Harris told him was to get ready. With a self-assured, "OK, coach," Goudis went to the practice net to warm up. He then trotted onto the field and won the game.
"He's hit every extra-point attempt [19] for us and he's two for two on field goals," said Harris, who said Goudis has a soccer background, although Harris isn't sure if he's going to try out for the school's soccer team.
But Goudis is already giving his foot plenty of work -- besides his varsity role, Goudis is spending his Thursday afternoons this fall as a kicker and wide receiver on the Chaminade freshman team.
With so much practice, it's kind of frightening to think how good this kid can be once he's a junior or senior.
This weekwill feel more like futbol, than football. On Friday, one game ended in a draw and another ended early because of a bench-clearing brawl near the end of the game. English Premier League, you got nothing on the SGV.
Onto Three-And-Out.
First Down: Ties, they are only good as an accesory, not as a final result. Charter Oak 14, Damien 14 is a horrible result. I can't believe coaches are given the option of overtime or not before a game. It should be a statewide rule that there are no more ties. The pros don't do it, the colleges stopped doing it a few years ago and it's about time the high schools did the same. Ban the tie.
Second Down:Duarte laid down the smack, literally. The Falcons (4-1, 1-) didn't make any friends last week by beating Ganesha 85-0, and they made even fewer friends this week by going for two with a 34-3 lead in the fourth quarter against Gladstone (1-3, 0-1). The game was stopped early by the officials with 3:28 left because of a benches-clearing brawl. The SGVT has a tremendous report on the account, and it has great comments from both coaches going at it. "He's a coward," Duarte Coach Wardell Crutchfield said about Gladstone's Albert Sanchez. "And you can put that in the paper." Hope Solo thinks Crutchfield comments went too far. Third Down:Diamond Ranch (3-1). Are they the best in the SGV? Are they ready for Oaks Christian (2-2)? Roddy Layton has one of the toughest schedules in the SGV and things don't get any easier this week when they host a Lions program that has lost two in a row. The Panthers started the season with a hard-fought loss to Edison, then a terrific win against Chino Hills, but have tailed off in back-to-back close victories since. Are they the best in the SGV? Are they ready for Oaks Christian? IMO, those questions will remain unanswered until this Thursday.
Punt: "As you can see, we don't have a lot of bullets," Los Altos Coach Greg Gano after his Conquerors lost, 35-21, to St. Francis, "but we'll bounce back."
Los Altos faces Western in Anaheim next then will host South Hills after that.
I mean, this is only high school sports we are talking about. And I know preps have become a big deal -- I mean, I'm writing on a blog about prep sports -- but when do we go Mike Gundy on this whole thing and say, these are just amateur athletes we are talking about?
Is there a line where we go too far? Would Charter Oak and St. Francis have won their games if they would not have been told they couldn't win by hundreds of people in print or online? Should we, the media, play a role in motivating teams at the high school level?
Answers: Yes. No. No.
And hey, listen, I'm as guilty as the next guy, so it's not like I'm on my soapbox or anything like that. I'm just saying that their is a huge probability that the outcome of the game was affected by us dissecting these games as if they were college-level events and that's not cool -- not to Glendora and not to Los Altos, at least.
For the first time ever, Oaks Christian has the same amount of wins as losses and a lot of that somewhat dubious distinction has to be levied on the Lions' inability to play to their potential for 48 minutes.
I don't mean to belittle Venice and RB Curtis McNeal's 186-yard performance, but a team as talented as Oaks Christian should have walked away with the big ol' "W" after taking a 28-9 halftime lead. However, just like they've done in every game this year, the Lions suffered a breakdown -- a breakdown that allowed the Gondoliers to jump back into the game and steal a 41-35 victory.
"We haven't been able to put a whole game together yet," Oaks Christian Coach Bill Redell said. "I know we're younger than we we were last year and maybe that has something to do with it, but, really, there isn't any excuse for it."
It's an ongoing problem that needs to be corrected if Oaks Christian is going to repeat as Northwest Division champion in December.
In the season opener against Lompoc, the Lions should have had a shutout and against Muir they had a 36-0 halftime lead before settling for a 36-20 victory. And then, against St. Bonaventure in Week 3, Oaks Christian fell into a 34-0 hole before losing, 41-33.
"We've got to eliminate the mental mistakes and stay in the game," Redell said. "We could have -- rather should have -- won those [last two] games."
Apparently, the Crespi-St. Bonaventure game wasn't the only surprise on Friday night (well, as far as I'm concerned at least). There were some other "whoa" scores out there from the Valley/North region and here's just a few of them:
No. 13 Venice 41, No. 21 Oaks Christian 35 I think I was the only one who wasn't a Venice student or alumni who picked the Gondoliers to take this one, even though we had them ranked ahead of Oaks Christian in this week's poll. Still, it's hard to believe the Lions are riding only their second losing "streak" in team history after setting a Southern Section record-48 game winning streak three weeks ago. Here's the story on Venice's big night.
Chaminade 24, No. 20 Canyon 21 This one totally shocked me. Not to take anything from Chaminade, but I thought Canyon would come out hungry and ready to show it has moved on from WR Mark Urbina's season-ending injury and a so-so performance against Lancaster last week. Well, I totally underestimated how well QB Ryan Griffin would play and I never in a million years thought a freshman kicker would be the guy who ultimately downed the defending Division I state bowl champions. Check out the story on the game.
No. 10 Notre Dame 38, Saugus 35 It took a TD catch by Jeff Dickmann in the final seconds for Notre Dame to comeback in this one, which begs the question, exactly how good are Notre Dame and Saugus? Well, it seems to me the Knights are a little overrated (at least if you're looking at The Times' rankings) and the Centurions are a little underrated. Of course, I can't see the Knights as a lock for the Serra League title anymore, and Saugus will definitely make Canyon and Hart sweat in Foothill League play. Here's the scoop on Notre Dame-Saugus.
Simi Valley 14, Moorpark 6 Another surprise, but when you have a game-breaker like RB Langston Jackson on your side, anything is possible. It seems that the Musketeers are going to have to post an upset of their own (like beating Newbury Park or Westlake) if they're going to be a postseason contender. See what the Ventura County Star had to say about this one.
Go here if you want to check out all of the other Week 4 scores. I'll definitely have more on these four games and other regional contests yet to come later this afternoon and during the upcoming week.
"I wanted my guys to see that he could be stopped because Canyon showed it can be done," Ross said. "He's a great back, but he's not Superman."
The Celts definitely proved that in their 25-9 victory Friday. They held Scott to 135 yards, a large chunk of which came on a 31-yard run with the victory already out of reach for the Seraphs. It was only the fifth time in 19 games Scott was held to less than 200 yards rushing.
All night I was waiting for Scott to break out on a big run, but it never happened.
He had a couple first-down carries at the start of the third quarter, but almost every time he was handed the ball from QB Tony Macarena, he was facing a flurry of defenders who had already penetrated the St. Bonny line. It got to the point where it seemed as if Crespi was reading straight out of the St. Bonny playbook.
"These guys had something to prove after our game against Centennial," Ross said. "They were upset with how things went in that one and these guys showed they're handling adversity better."
Looking outside the Scott-stopping show, I was also impressed by Crespi's offense. RB Austin Shanks rushed for 229 yards and a three touchdowns, but he did it without the help of fellow RB E.J. Woods, who saw limited playing time because of an injured foot.
QB Bryan Bennett also had a strong game in only his third start. He completed 11 of 20 passes for 159 yards.
Still, I'm a little surprised St. Bonny couldn't pull itself into the game. I thought maybe the Seraphs were going to make a run for it at the end, like they did against Santa Margarita, but that wasn't the case.
Instead, the Seraphs seemed to crack a little under pressure. Once it became obvious Scott wouldn't carry the offense, Macarena wasn't up to the task of leading the Seraphs through the passing game. He threw the ball too many times into highly-congested areas and he paid the price with two interceptions. Still, I think he's a solid QB capable of being under center for a state-bowl caliber team.
South Bay-area volleyball teams and fans are gathering today at Torrance High for a special night of competition and community.
The Torrance Challenge, a triple-header that will include a match between West Torrance and El Segundo at 3 p.m., another involving Redondo and North Torrance at 5 p.m. and a Pioneer League match between Torrance and South Torrance at 7:30 p.m., will take place at Torrance and be highlighted by the jersey retirment of one of the Tartars' greatest athletes.
Kim Blankinship, a former three-sport star who earned 12 varsity letters at Torrance, was a two-time All-Southern Section selection in volleyball, soccer and track, and went on to play volleyball at Loyola Marymount. She died suddenly of heart failure on Oct. 16, 2006, two days after her 31st birthday.
Her No. 14 jersey will be retired in a ceremony before the match between Torrance and South Torrance.
Dykstra recently recorded a school-record 29 digs in Redondo's five-game loss last week to defending Division IV state-champion Marymount, ranked No. 32 nationally. She followed that with 21 digs in a 25-13, 25-22, 19-25, 17-25, 9-15 loss to Santa Barbara, and then got 11 more in a 25-11, 25-18, 25-18 victory at South Torrance.
"Her technique, in my opinion, is near flawless," Redondo Coach Tommy Chaffins said.
That should be of little surprise because Dykstra is the fourth of five siblings in a volleyball family. Former Redondo standout Joey Dykstra now plays for the USC men's team, and current Sea Hawk senior outside hitter Devon Dykstra has committed to Colorado.
Each of Dykstra's older siblings has excelled on the beach volleyball junior circuit, as does Lara, who is a double-A rated player who came within a victory of reaching the highest level, triple-A, in qualifying competition last summer.
"Just from being around volleyball so much, from watching her siblings, she doesn't play like a freshman at all," Chaffins said. "Really, the only way you might think she was a freshman is if you look at her, because of her baby face."
Questions, questions: How good is Poly, really? Does St. Bonny remain in the top 10? Does Canyon stay in the top 25? Where does Chaminade (4-0) enter because it is going to be in the top 25, isn't it?
I'm preparing to sign off until Tuesday, unless something really outrageous happens between now and then, but like they say, 'What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.'
I think I'll use this forum to break the news to my colleagues that I'm ending my two-week Mater Dei holdout. I'll vote the Monarchs No. 1 come Tuesday. As the lone dissenter in our top 25 poll, I had an enlightening experience tonight while watching Corona Centennial hold off Clovis West, 31-24.
The Huskies weren't as sharp as they were two weeks ago in a 41-20 victory over Crespi. Players were fumbling into the end zone, dropping passes in the end zone, letting a back-up running back for Clovis West get into the end zone. And then the flags. It seemed like Centennial was getting called for holding on every drive.
At halftime, I learned Mater Dei was routing Edison, a team I expected to put up a fight. But it appears the Chargers were no match for the Red Wave.
I hope Centennial gets the kinks worked out during the week. A couple of their top players, running back Ryan Bass and quarterback Matt Scott (pictured above during summer passing leagues), seemed less than thrilled after the game. Both said the team needs an exceptional week of practice to prepare for its Thursday meeting with Mater Dei at Santa Ana Stadium.
Maybe a scare like tonight is just what the Huskies needed.
Most teams have reached the halfway point of the regular season, or will do so by next week, but the King of the Mountain is already established.
Birmingham has a firm grip on the title of "Best Team In City Section Football." And someone will have to be awfully good to tear it out of the Patriots' hands.
What has to concern Birmingham's upcoming West Valley League and potential playoff opponents -- normally the Pats are slow starters. Veteran Patriots watchers are used to seeing the team stagger through a concrete-tough nonleague schedule with a losing record, then grow stronger as the season goes on. That formula has delivered three City titles in the last five years.
But this year, Birmingham has emerged 4-1 from that schedule, with victories over Long Beach Poly, Valencia, Sherman Oaks Notre Dame and Dorsey. Crespi is the only team to beat Birmingham, and its becoming apparent that the Celts just caught the Patriots at the right time -- in their season opener.
Beyond an eruption of injuries, the biggest threat to Birmingham -- and maybe the only one -- is complacency. But the Pats know that to have a shot at playing in this year's State Bowl championship game, they cannot afford another misstep. I suspect their focus and determination will not waiver.
I also think the Patriots genuinely enjoy wearing the target of "City's Best" on their backs, a target that will grow with each passing week.
- Mike Terry
(Editor Bob: I predict a Birmingham-Venice final at the Coliseum.)
Two of the top teams in Southern California played Friday night at Pierce College, but not a whole lot of people showed up to witness the Parochial battle between Crespi, ranked No. 5 by The Times, and No. 3 St. Bonaventure. Crespi defeated the Seraphs, 25-9.
I gave a rough estimate of about 1,000 fans at the start of the game and I was hoping some more people would show up to ride the old squeaky wooded benches at Pierce College. None did, and that's a shame because Crespi put on one heck of a show.
But I was a little surprised at the relative emptiness of the stands on the St. Bonaventure side of the field. I know that driving down the 101 on a Friday afternoon is no picnic, but last week, against Oaks Christian, I had never seen a more dedicated fan base.
Thousands upon thousands (actually, around 5,000) were in the stands at Ventura High, braving the rain and the wind to see the Seraphs kick some Lions' behind. But that didn't happen tonight. Maybe the outcome would have been different if more St. Bonny fans had showed up. Who knows?
Of course, Crespi did have Cardinal Roger Mahony on its sideline, so you can draw your own conclusions.
Blake Hyepock completed 16 of 20 passes for 179 yards and two touchdowns, both to Blake Ayles (pictured left) to lift No. 6 Orange Lutheran (5-0) over No. 18 Los Alamitos (3-1) Friday at Cal State Fullerton.
Lutheran's 31-8 victory was thorough in the battle between two of the Southland's top teams.
Hyepock, hammered on the first play of the game and fumbling for a 13-yard loss, got his revenge by marching Lutheran downfield on its first two possessions for touchdowns. The first, covering 75 yards, ended with a 17-yard pass that split three defenders that Ayles caught in the end zone. The second drive went 68 yards, and though Hyepock had a 20-yard completion, the big play was Ricky Pemasa's 42-yard run. Tyson Seneca scored from the one.
After a short punt, Lutheran added to its lead 25 seconds before the half, completing a 40-yard drive on Pemasa's four-yard run. James Rammelsberg connected on a 35-yard field goal in the third to stretch the lead to 24-0 before Los Alamitos put together its only scoring drive, which ended with Clark Evans passing 18 yards to Darryl Jenkins.
Early in the fourth quarter, Hyepock completed a 73-yard drive with an eight-yard pass to the 6-foot-4 Ayles, who out-jumped the defender in the end zone.
Before Los Alamitos started playing its reserves, it gained 179 yards passing and only nine yards rushing against the Lutheran defense. Evans passed for 75 yards on the one scoring drive.
Barry Sher, defensive coordinator for Los Alamitos, was talking about Orange Lutheran, which no longer has player of the year Aaron Corp as its quarterback. But the Lancers still present all kinds of problems, he said.
"They're so multiple-formation," Sher said. "Option. I-formation to stretch you. ... You can prepare for the option all week and three out of four plays might not be an option. And everybody who touches the ball is gifted."
Lutheran is well known for throwing the kitchen sink at opponents. In their first 11 plays Friday, the Lancers snapped the ball to three different players -- and not one was the punter.
"Everyone presents different problems," Sher said. "Poly's fast. Mater Dei's physical. These guys are so multiple. They remind me of the real good Santa Margarita teams, but they take it a step further."
As for Blake Hyepock, the Lutheran quarterback who replaced Aaron Corp? "He's a solid high school quarterback," Sher said. And that was before he led the Lancers to a 31-8 victory.
Culver City sealed its fourth victory, a 30-13 decision over Crenshaw, when Darius Banks (pictured left from another game) threw his second touchdown pass of the night with 9:45 to play and Michael Song intercepted a pass to stop a Crenshaw drive with about six minutes left.
The Centaurs (4-0) stopped another Crenshaw drive by stuffing a fourth-and-one run at the two-yard llne with three minutes remaining.
Noel Grigsby caught a touchdown pass and quarterback Clint Floyd scored on a five-yard run in the second quarter for Crenshaw (1-4). Senior defensive back Davionne Ami intercepted two passes for the Cougars.
While my mission to catch Darrell Scott was fruitless, I did catch St. Bonaventure Coach Todd Therrien at the team's water cooler after the game. I wasn't sure if he would be in a talking mood after his team's 25-9 loss to Crespi, but he was very matter-of-fact in his game assessment.
"This is the best Crespi defense I've ever seen," said Therrien, who worked as an assistant at St. Bonaventure for six years before taking over as head coach this season. "I'd like to say they're too hard to overcome, but, obviously, we didn't play our game."
Most of that lost potential came on offense. QB Tony Macarena had two passes intercepted and two fumbles.
The most harmful of the turnovers came on the first play from scrimmage when Macarena fumbled the snap in the end zone and Crespi LB Chris Carter dived on it for a TD. His other turnovers didn't lead to Crespi TDs, but they killed St. Bonny's chances to dig itself out of a 19-0 hole.
And the Seraphs know how hard it is to come back from a big deficit because Oaks Christian fell into one against them last week.
"We came out flat and made too many mental mistakes," Therrien said. "The pressure got to us."
In the press box, the early conversation centered on the all-county quarterback for Orange County. The usual suspects were mentioned: Matt Barkley, Clark Evans and Nick Crissman. Then, too, San Clemente's Brad Curtis. Mission Viejo's Allan Bridgford wasn't specifically mentioned, but you know he's a part of the conversation, too.
But by halftime, it was looking like one more player should be considered. Senior Blake Hyepock, who had never started a football game at any level for No. 6 Orange Lutheran, looked brilliant. By the end of the night, Hyepock had completed 16 of 20 passes for 179 yards and two touchdowns, both to Blake Ayles, in a 31-8 nonleague victory over No. 18 Los Alamitos.
Hyepock was spectacular and stole the show from Evans, the Los Alamitos junior who is going to attract a lot of college attention for his running and passing skills.
"I'm just practicing every day and working hard," Hyepock said in his understated style.
"This whole year he's stepped up and shocked the whole team," said Ayles, the USC-bound tight end who had a third touchdown reception negated by a penalty.
What was shocking Friday was to learn that Hyepock had the flu all week, according to Coach Jim Kunau. "But he never whined or complained," Kunau said. "He's the nicest kid, a real high character kid. He was only about 70% of his best."
That is shocking. Can't wait to see him at his best.
You may not know what makes for a great facility (parking is part of a facility), but you sure can scout talent.
You said to watch out for No. 4 and No. 21 and you where right. No. 4 Dietrich Riley had an awesome game, as I wrote about in an earlier blog, and No. 21 Kevin Garcia, a senior wide receiver/defensive back, wasn't far behind with his two TDs and two fourth-quarter-interceptions to help seal the victory.
Evan King, a junior running back/linebacker, also had a great game, scoring two TDs and getting that last block to spring Riley loose for the last touchdown.
The Golden Knights' offensive and defensive fronts also had monster games.
Perhaps one of the reasons St. Francis is celebrating and Los Altos is hurting right now is the media hype before the game.
Garcia said he listened to the SGVT's two-minute drill audio clip five times to get pumped up. St. Francis senior lineman Dan Scheper said he was amazed at the level of disrespect. Coach Jim Bonds didn't have to do much to motivate his players; the media did it all for him.
On the flipside, Los Altos apparently believed the hype and perhaps came in a little over-confident.
"I noticed during pregame, they didn't look fired up at all," Garcia said. "We came in knowing that they were going to beat us."
But the Golden Knights refused to lose.
"No, no way. Not in front of our fans and our parents. No way," Garcia said.
Added Riley: "We heard all the hype. The papers saying we couldn't beat them, that they we're going to devour us and we just wanted to respond back."
Said Scheper: "They came in expecting to whomp on us, but we had a different idea."
Meet Dietrich Riley. Remember his name. You will undoubtedly hear it a lot over the next three years.
The sophomore running back/defensive back had a 33-yard touchdown run with 9:33 left for the final margine of victory in St. Francis' upset of visiting Los Altos. But that wasn't even his best run of the drive. That was a 36-yarder on a reverse that came on second and 20. It was a play designed especially for him.
"You want the ball in his hands in a situation like that," Golden Knights Coach Jim Bonds said.
Riley finished with 163 yards rushing and one touchdown.
OK, the Golden Knights didn't stop him entirely, but they contained him long enough to pull off a 35-21 upset victory over Los Altos.
Lineman Dan Scheper, author of the above quote, said St. Francis usually puts four or five guys on the defensive line but employed an extra lineman for this game.
"That really helped us contain him because it didn't let him [bounce to] the outside," Scheper said.
On top of keying on Mahmud-McBride during practice all week, I heard one of the St. Francis parents say that Bryce's picture (maybe the one above?) was posted on the locker room wall for extra motivation.
Corona Centennial strung together its most important drive of the season midway through the fourth quarter, then made its biggest defensive stop, resulting in a 31-24 victory that set up a showdown with top-ranked Mater Dei next Thursday at Santa Ana Stadium.
Ryan Bass ended the game-winning drive by scoring on a two-yard touchdown run with 6:47 left in the game. Bass started the drive with his two longest runs of the game, covering 24 and 19 yards. He finished with 143 yards and a touchdown in 26 carries.
Centennial's defense then came up big when it needed to most, stopping Clovis West short of the first-down marker near midfield on fourth and two.
Still, Centennial Coach Matt Logan, who recorded his 100th victory in 10 1/2 seasons at the school, saw plenty of room for improvement.
"We made some bad mistakes out there," he said. "We are inexperienced, we only had four starters back on offense."
At least the second-ranked Huskies had the same offensive line for consecutive games for the first time this season.
Birmingham didn't come to Rancho Cienega on Friday, where Dorsey plays its home games, just to make a point. But the Patriots did so anyway with their 30-10 victory.
"They are definitely the best team in the City," Dorsey Coach Paul Knox said of Birmingham (4-1). "We'll have to execute better to play at this level. Now our kids know what it will take to win a championship because they are the best team."
Dorsey (2-2) was not in awe or afraid of Birmingham when the game started. But they were definitely impressed when the game was over.
How could they not be?
The Patriots spotted the Dons a 10-6 lead after the first quarter, then shut them out the remaining three while scoring 24 consecutive points. When Birmingham wasn't driving Dorsey nuts with the running tandem of tailback Milton Knox and quarterback Exavier Johnson, the Patriots' defense was bottling up the Dons with five sacks. They only allowed one big play, a 70-yard touchdown run by Dons running back Johnathan Franklin.
As one sideline observer noted, "Dorsey beat Santa Margarita with its speed. Tonight they saw a team that was as fast as they were."
At least Dorsey can take solace in this thought: Long Beach Poly and Sherman Oaks Notre Dame also know how good Birmingham is.
Blake Hyepock completed 16 of 20 passes
for 179 yards and two touchdowns, both to Blake Ayles, as No. 6 Orange
Lutheran (5-0) remained unfeated against No. 18 Los Alamitos (3-1).
So, St. Bonny RB Darrell Scott didn't have his best game of the season, but that shouldn't be a surprise considering how well Crespi's defense played.
Scott had fewer than 50 yards in the first half and got a big chunk of his second-half yards (about 30 or so) on a big run in the closing seconds with the outcome already decided. He finished with 135 yards rushing.
Unfortunately, I'm going to have to keep closer tabs on Mr. Scott in the on-field mele that follows every prep football game. For the second week in a row, I missed out on talking with him after the game (although he was sick last week against Oaks Christian). I eventually was able to track him down, but by then he was sitting somewhere on the team bus, which was pulling out of the Pierce College parking lot.
Man, that guy is quick. Unfortunately for him, the Crespi defense proved even quicker tonight.
