By Fred J. Robledo, Staff Writer
Bishop Amat has plenty of time to figure out what it takes to compete with the Southland’s best — the Serra League is a month away and playoffs don’t start until November. But powerful Servite, the CIF-Southern Section’s two-time defending Pac-5 Division champs and current number one showed third-ranked Amat it still has a long way to go in Friday’s 49-14 victory at Cerritos College.
Repeat, a long way to go. (to continue click thread)
ARAM’S POSTGAME SHOW REWIND, CHECK IT OUT..
Friday’s results
Servite 49, Bishop Amat 14 — No need sugar-coating it, you’ve heard of bigger, stronger, faster … well add better too. Amat’s defense looked like it has a long way to go, Servite moved in big chunks from start to finish.
Loyola 35, West Covina 7 — The Bulldogs fell behind quick and never recovered, but something tells me they will be fine once the Hacienda rolls around.
Damien 13, Diamond Ranch 6 — More important to Gano than Layton, though it wasn’t the fist-pumping result Spartans fans were hoping for. Still, a good win.
Charter Oak 35, Roosevelt 28 — Thank goodness the Trib’s number one pulled it out in the fourth quarter, otherwise it would have been a real dark night in the SGV.
Covina 42, Gladstone 0 — Absolutely no lingering effects from last week’s heart-wrenching 26-20 overtime loss to West Covina.
South Hills 61, St. Monica 0 — Are you paying attention to this? The Huskies follow with West Covina and Monrovia, and yes, I think they have a great shot in both.
Arroyo 48, Temple City 21 — Always a heated rivalry, and you have to love how the Knights have scored points in their first two wins.
Diamond Bar 40, Wilson 13 — Brahmas shake off last week’s disappointment with a solid win over the Cats.
California 41, Rowland 14 — The Raiders aren’t what they use to be, but then again, the Condors are pretty good.
Lancaster 9, Baldwin Park 7 — Could be a long, long year for the Braves, falling to 0-2 after another tough loss.
Mountain View 41, Bassett 12 — The Vikings were expected to win, but the offense is much better than expected.
Troy 35, Walnut 14 — In previous years the Mustangs may have had a shot, but not this year, and not on the road.
El Rancho 13, Northview 10 — That’s two tough losses for the Vikings in back-to-back weeks.
Nogales 36, Jurupa Hills 14 — The Nobles get in the win column, much needed to get their confidence going.
Claremont 18, Bonita 15 — The Wolfpack returned the favor after Bonita’s surprising win over them last year.
Pomona 28, Chino 24 –– The Red Devils could be the sleeper in the Valle Vista that Covina and San Dimas worry about.
Chino Hills 28, Santiago 16 — Remember, the Huskies are the Sierra League champs till someone knocks them off.
Montebello 20, Rosemead 9 — Tough loss for Koffler and the boys.
Los Altos 27, Bellflower 0 — Are you kidding me, great to see teams like Los Altos and Duarte rebound they way they have the first two weeks.
South El Monte 40, Ganesha 7 — The Lions took care of the Giants easier than most expected.
Workman 13, Keppel 2 — Nice start for the Lobos, now lets see if they can keep it going.
Highlights and postgame interviews from Amat-Servite with the Inland Insider, Tom Kiss and staff…
Postgame interviews with West Covina with Tyler Drohen
The Friars dominated in every way imaginable, running and throwing for big chunks at a time, almost scoring at will, and answering quick after Amat’s lone two scores.
Servite quarterback Cody Pittman threw for 136 yards and two touchdowns, and also scored on a 16-yard run. And Friars backs Charlie Etiaki rushed for 119 yards and Andrew Moore ran for 81, and they each did it on only nine carries apiece.
It grew so bad the final minutes ended on a running clock, part of CIF’s new rule after a team has a 35-point lead in the second half.
“It feels bad now, but come Monday we’ll get back to work,” Amat coach Steve Hagerty said. “This isn’t fatal, it’s not the end of the season or the year. We played a good football team. We’re going to be good, but we got a long way to go. We still believe in our kids, our program, but tonight is a good example of where we’re not quite where we need to be.”
Amat quarterback Rio Ruiz threw for 116 yards and a touchdown, but also threw two picks. Running back Jalen Moore struggled to get going, finishing with 73 yards, scoring on a 12-yard run in the third quarter.
“I don’t think there’s one more disappointing thing than the other, it’s equally disappointing,” Hagerty said of the loss. “They’re better up front than we’re. Even if it’s on the humiliation side of things, we’re playing a quality team and the CIF champions and that’s why they’re good, and that’s why we have to to expose ourselves to it. It’s risky, but hopefully it’s worthwhile in the end.”
Servite marched on its first series, doing practically anything it wanted, scoring on Pittman’s seven-yard touchdown pass to Etiaki for a 7-0 lead just four minutes into the game.
Things got worse quick.
After Ruiz rushed for a first down on the ensuing series, his first-down pass attempt was tipped and Servite’s Sean DeRosa grabbed it and returned to the Amat 26.
The Friars marched straight past the Lancers’ defense again, DeRosa plowing his way from three yards for a 14-0 lead with 5:41 left in the opening quarter.
The Lancers finally caught a break when Servite fumbled a punt to end the first quarter, Amat’s D.J. Daniels coming up with it on the Friars’ 29.
It looked like the Lancers would come up empty again after Ruiz was sacked on third down, setting up fourth-and-12, but the Lancers went for it, Ruiz connecting on a beautiful pass over the middle that Adam Sanchez dove to bring down in the back of the endzone to cut the Friars’ lead in half, 14-17 with 10:09 until halftime.
All that did was seem to upset Servite, who marched 67 yards on just three plays, scoring on Moore’s three-yard touchdown to go back up, 21-7 with 9:16 left until half.
Amat tried cutting the lead in half again, driving to the Friars’ 11, but they got backed up and Ruiz threw an interception on fourth and goal from the 17.
The Friars took advantage, marching 87 yards on just eight plays, finishing with Etiaki’s untouched 19-yard touchdown run up the right side, extending the Friars’ lead to 28-7.
Amat cut it to 28-14 early in the third, but the Friars closed the quarter with 14 points to stretch it to 42-14
“I think offensively we have a veteran team and they played like a veteran team,” Servite coach Troy Thomas said. “There was a challenge thrown out to the offense and they responded to it tonight.”
fred.robledo@sgvn.com
twitter.com/SGVTribPreps
626-962-8811, ext. 2161
Box Score
Bis Amat 0 7 7 0 — 14
Servite 14 14 14 7 — 49
Scoring Summary
SE: Charlie Etiaki 7 pass from Codi Pittman (Conner Bevans kick).
SE: Sean DeRosa 3 run (Bevans kick)
BA: Adam Sanchez 31 yard pass from Rio Ruiz (Alex Gutierrez kick)
SE: Andrew Moore 10 run (Bevans kick)
SE: Etiaki 19 run (Bevans kick)
BA: Jalen Moore 12 run (Gutierrez kick)
SE: Sam Hunt 51 pass from Pittman (Bevans kick)
SE: Pittman 16 run (Bevans kick)
SE: Andrew Zammaron 3 run (Bevans kick)
FOR QUARTER-BY-QUARTER UPDATES of tonight’s games, click link
COVERITLIVE: Join “Mike the Cousin” during our live chat of Bishop Amat vs. Servite at 7:30 p.m, as well as updates from other area teams.
