DOWN AND OUT: Serra ran over St. Francis Thursday night, scoring a 42-6 victory.
Staff photo by Sarah Reingewirtz
By Steve Ramirez, SGVN
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LA CANADA FLINTRIDGE – St. Francis High School began the week with slim hopes of qualifying for the CIF-Southern Section playoffs.
That chance might now be nonexistent.
Malik Roberson rushed for 101 yards and two touchdowns and quarterback Jalen Greene threw for 206 yards and a score and visiting Serra posted a 42-6 victory over the Golden Knights on Thursday in a Mission League game at Friedman Field.
St. Francis, getting two 48-yard field goals from Mark Verso, dropped to 3-5 overall and 0-3 in league. The Golden Knights’ shot at a third-place finish and the last playoff spot from the league is gone, and most likely any at-large hopes.
St. Francis quarterback Jared Lebowitz, who had thrown for nearly 2,000 yards during the first seven weeks, was limited to just 146. He was sacked five times and re-injured a shoulder in the third quarter and did not return.
Serra, whose only league loss was a 28-20 setback to Chaminade on Oct. 5, improved to 6-2 and 2-1.
The Cavaliers, leading just 14-6 at halftime, put it away early in the third quarter. Roberson, who had 22-yard touchdown run in first quarter, made it 21-6 with a 12-yard run at 8:39. Defensive lineman Inoke Raikadroka then intercepted a Lebowitz pass a few seconds later and returned it 53 yards for a 28-6 lead.
Greene, who also had a 1-yard touchdown run, made it 35-6 with a 29-yard pass to Roberson with 2:29 left in the quarter.
“We were playing with them,” St. Francis coach Jim Bonds said. “It was 14-6, we’re making some stops in the first half and then they come out and score (to open the third quarter). We give them points on offense (with the interception) and that just deflated us.”
Early on , Serra looked like it might run away, scoring on its first two possessions.
The Cavaliers, after Verso gave St. Francis a 3-0 lead with the first of his field goals, needed just nine plays to take a 7-3 advantage on a 22-yard run by Roberson at 5:27 of the first quarter.
Serra put together a second 80-yard drive on its next possession. Roberson had runs of 14 and 13 yards before Greene completed three passes for 51 yards before scoring from the 1 with 11:23 left in the half.
St. Francis, which had 159 yards in the first half, could only manage the two field goals by Verso, leaving the score 14-6 at intermission.
“They’re tough to block,” Bonds said. “They’re an athletic crew over there. We knew had our hands full coming into this.”
MONROVIA 84, BLAIR 0
By Keith Lair, SGVN
PASADENA – Monrovia High School’s offense touched the ball one time during a 23-minute, 53-second stretch in Thursday’s Rio Hondo League football game at Blair at Muir High.
The Wildcats scored six touchdowns during that time in an 84-0 victory.
“One thing we can control is effort and we did that,” said junior free safety Deshawn Potts, who started at quarterback. “It was a matter of getting on the field and having fun.”
Potts threw a short sideline pass to Jacob Bueno, who went 45 yards to give the Wildcats a 35-0 lead with 9:18 left in the first half.
Monrovia then scored five consecutive times without its offense touching the ball. Anthony Marquez intercepted a Terance Douglas pass and returned it 33 yards for a score, sophomore Darian Huff returned a punt 49 yards for a touchdown, Andrew Gallegos picked up a fumble and went 22 yards, Anthony Craft returned the second-half kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown and Crayvon Gillespie returned a punt 45 yards for a score.
Monrovia finally ran an offensive play with one minute to go in the third quarter and Fernando Rosas scored on a 45-yard run.
That was fun seeing our teammates having fun out there,” Potts said. “It was exciting to come back to the sidelines and everyone is really happy for those guys.”
Potts, whose last start at quarterback was last year against Blair, and Rosas each scored twice.
“We weren’t trying to run the score up at all,” Monrovia coach Ryan Maddox said. “Our starters were out in the first quarter.
“(Blair) coach (Johnny) Lopez is trying to rebuild and get things going.”
Monrovia (6-2, 3-0) won its 25th consecutive league game. Blair (0-8, 0-4) lost its 17th consecutive game overall and 18th consecutive league game.
Monrovia ran 13 offensive plays in the game and scored on seven of them.
The Vikings’ biggest play was when Juan Sanchez recovered a muffed Monrovia punt return in the first quarter.
“They scored less than San Marino,” Lopez said. “We held them to two points less. Nobody sat down and they’re all here. Still. Nobody’s hurt. I’m cool. We made it through the night.”
SIERRA CANYON 51, MARSHALL 0
By Guillermo Tovar
PASADENA – The Marshall Eagles were hoping their annual homecoming would be a game to remember.
Unfortunately, the game was one Marshall (3-6, 0-4) would just as soon forget as it was routed by Sierra Canyon 51-0 in an Alpha League game Thursday.
Sierra Canyon (8-0, 4-0) scored 41 seconds into the game when Xavier Menifield took a handoff and ran 32 yards for a 7-0 lead.
The Trailblazers made it 14-0 with 8:19 left in the first quarter when Menifield scored his second touchdown of the game on a 9-yard run.
With 4:41 left on the first quarter, quarterback Andre Nunez connected with Preston White on a 7-yard touchdown pass to make it 21-0.
Nunez threw his second touchdown pass early in the second quarter. With a second and goal at the Eagles’ 7, Nunez threw a shovel pass to Blake Brady that made it 28-0.
Still in the second quarter, Brady took the handoff and ran 5 yards for a score. With 2:06 left before halftime, Menifield score his third touchdown, this one a 52-yard run that made it 42-0 at halftime.
Menifield did not play in the second half. He ended the night with 103 rushing yards and three touchdowns.
Marshall plays its last game of the season Oct. 26 against Viewpoint at Calabasas High.
