HS FOOT: Smith helps Alemany defeat St. Francis

One year after transferring from St. Francis of La Canada to Alemany of Mission Hills, defensive back Deron Smith faced his former teammates Friday and came through with the performance of a lifetime.

The sophomore intercepted two passes and broke up another key fourth-down pass -- all in the second half -- to help Alemany to a 13-7 victory that clinched at least a share of the Mission League championship with one game remaining.

"We stepped up big tonight," Smith said. "This was really important."

Smith's first interception came in the end zone after St. Francis (7-2, 1-1) had driven 85 yards on 19 plays on its first drive of the second half.

"I was kind of surprised on that one. The ball came right to me," Smith said.

On St. Francis' next possession, Smith again came through by breaking up a fourth-down pass on his own 33. That left St. Francis with one last opportunity a few minutes later, and this time Smith again had an interception with less than one minute remaining.

"Deron came up big for us tonight, and that second interception was just unbelievable," Alemany coach Dean Herrington said. "I'm happy for him because he's such a nice kid. I thought the game would come down to something like this because St. Francis is a good team."

Alemany's Malcolm Marable rushed for 133 yards on 30 carries, scoring on a 2-yard run.

St. Francis' Justin Posthuma completed 9 of 24 passes for 135 yards and four interceptions, and he rushed for 101 yards on 18 carries.

Dietrich Riley, a star multipurpose back for St. Francis who is one of California's top unsigned recruits, played with a hamstring injury and was used sparingly. He rushed for 66 yards on nine carries and did make make his first appearance on defense until the second quarter.

"We were probably a little lucky that Dietrich Riley wasn't at full strength," Herrington said.

The highlight of the first half was a 54-yard field goal by Martin Meza, who added a 43-yarder just before the end of the second quarter to help Alemany to a 13-7 halftime lead.

Alemany (6-3, 2-0) scored on Marable's 2-yard run, as the Warriors drove 80 yards on 12 plays on a time-consuming drive that lasted six minutes, 27 seconds.

St. Francis opened with a 12-play, 80-yard drive that ended with a 1-yard touchdown run by Michael Melnick.

Alemany's Vernon Adams completed 6 of 13 passes for 52 yards.

gerry.gittelson@dailynews.com