LA SERNA 31, SOUTH HILLS 8
COVINA >>Any thought of the La Serna High School football team starting a downward spiral after last week’s loss to Mira Costa was put to rest Friday.
Joe Leal rushed for 89 yards and two touchdowns and the Lancers’ defense was stout again for the fourth consecutive game in a 31-8 victory over South Hills in a nonleague game at Covina District Field.
Jon Ceballos accounted for 150 yards and Anthony Garcia rushed for 58 yards and a touchdown for the Lancers, who improved to 3-1. La Serna also held the host Huskies to 57 yards rushing and had five sacks.
Dylan O’Leary threw for 238 yards and a touchdown for South Hills, which slipped to 1-3.
Leal all but wrapped it up with his 45-yard touchdown run for a 21-0 advantage with 4:29 left in the third quarter.
The Lancers then got a 35-yard field goal from Alex Vazquez with 10 minutes left in the game for a 24-0 edge before South Hills broke the shutout with a 5-yard pass from O’Leary to Quinn Cotter with 2:26 left. Cotter ran in the conversion to make it 24-8.
The onside kick was short and La Serna took over at the South Hills’ 40.
La Serna’s Joe Leal: “We just practiced hard all week and played like a team. It’s like coach (Andy George) said. As we practice hard, we’ll play as a team and win games.”
— Stephen Ramirez
ST. PAUL 26, FULLERTON 21
SANTA FE SPRINGS >> St. Paul held off a fourth quarter surge from Fullerton, handing the Indians their first loss of the season with a 26-21 victory on Friday.
After both teams opened the second half by forcing punts, St. Paul (3-1) broke through on a 1-yard touchdown run by Amando Velasco, making it 20-14 following a missed PAT.
The Swordsmen got great field possession on the ensuing kickoff when Ean East stripped Fullerton’s Jonaven Smith and then recovered the fumble at the Indians’ 35-yard line.
Greg Nevarez would capitalize, scoring on a 6-yard run to extend the Swordsmen’s lead to 26-14. But Nevarez was stopped short of the goal line on the two-point conversion attempt.
Nevarez finished the game with 72 total yards and a touchdown.
— Richard Hernandez
ROUNDUP: Pioneer improves to 4-0; routs Cerritos
Pioneer High School has had a rough road in recent years.
But that is all in the past now. The Titans scored a 49-6 nonleague victory over visiting Cerritos on Friday night to start the season 4-0.
Pioneer was last 4-0 in 2007, and the last time the Titans won at least four games in a season was in 2010 when they went 5-5. Pioneer won four games in the last two seasons combined.
Phillip Hernandez passed for four touchdowns, three in the first half, and the Titans built a 28-0 lead over the Dons (0-3). Hernandez completed 11 of 15 passes for 216 yards. He threw a pair of touchdown passes to Angel Bodnar, who had four catches for 121 yards.
Mike Chavez had a 67-yard TD run and rushed for 124 yards on eight carries for Pioneer.

TOP TEN HOW THEY FARED
1. La Habra (3-1) def. Los Alamitos, 37-32
2. La Mirada (1-3) lost to San Clemente, 42-26
3. La Serna (3-1) def. South Hills, 31-8
4. Sonora (4-0) def. Yorba Linda, 25-22
5. Montebello (4-0) def. Azusa, 41-7
6. St. Paul (3-1) der. Fullerton, 26-21
7. California (1-3) lost to San Marino, 63-19 (Thursday)
8. El Rancho (0-3), idle
9. Pioneer (4-0) def. Cerritos, 49-6
10. Whittier (2-1) vs. LB Wilson at Pioneer (Saturday)
OTHER SCORES
Burroughs/Burbank 42, Santa Fe 3
Diamond Ranch 35, Schurr 3
Whittier Chr. 76, Western Chr. 28
Mary Star 43, Cantwell-Sacred Heart 6