Friday Final: Cathedral routs St. Paul; El Rancho shocks Cal; La Serna, La Habra, La Mirada score league wins

Colin Payne of Cathedral runs the ball for a 12 yard gain and first down against St. Paul in Angelus League action Friday October 7, 2016 at St. Paul. (Correspondent photo by Chris Burt/Sports)

Colin Payne of Cathedral runs the ball for a 12 yard gain and first down against St. Paul in Angelus League action Friday October 7, 2016 at St. Paul. (Correspondent photo by Chris Burt/Sports)


ANGELUS LEAGUE
CATHEDRAL 40, ST. PAUL 0

SANTA FE SPRINGS — St. Paul High School proved last season it can be competitive in the Angelus League. But Friday showed the Swordsmen still have some work to do to finish at the top of the standings.
Andrew Tovar threw for 253 yards and three touchdowns to lead Cathedral to a 40-0 victory over host St. Paul in the teams’ league opener.

The Phantoms, ranked No. 3 in this week’s CIF Southern Section Division 3 poll, improved to 6-0. Nick Redick rushed for 47 yards for the Swordsmen, who slipped to 2-4.
Cathedral, which was averaging 38 points per game prior to the contest, broke away from a six-point halftime advantage on two second-half touchdown passes from Tovar. The second, to Jamire Calvin, gave the Phantoms a 33-0 lead with 25 seconds left in the third quarter.
St. Paul coach Rick Zepeda: “At 6-0, we had the game where we wanted it. But they get a quick score. We have a couple of turnovers, offensively, and they converted each turnover. In this league, you can’t just show up. You have to play the best you can. We have to regroup and move on, as an embarrassing as it is. We just have to keep going.”
— Stephen Ramirez
ALMONT LEAGUE
MONTEBELLO 30, ALHAMBRA 12

Alhambra — Gabriel Tapia’s three-touchdown performance helped Montebello cruise past Alhambra in the Almont League opener for both teams at Moor Field.
Tapia completed 7 of 18 pass attempts for 94 yards and tossed two touchdowns. He also ran for a 20-yard touchdown on the Oilers’ first offensive series of the second half.
Montebello (5-1, 1-0) scored on the first drive of the game with a 9-yard touchdown run by junior running back Kris Rodriguez. The Oilers went up 13-0 when Tapia connected with receiver Andy Brown on a 9-yard slant route and went into halftime with a comfortable 16-0 lead.
Alhambra (2-4, 0-1) couldn’t get anything going on offense through the first three quarters. Senior quarterback Dominic Wilson completed only 4 of his 23 attempts for a total of 104 yards. Dylan Ariaza caught two passes, one a 43-yard gainer and the other a 41-yard touchdown.
Montebello coach Pete Gonzalez: “He (Tapia) has the pressure of carrying our team and being the commander out there on the field. He played a great game and did everything he was supposed to do.”
Montebello’s Gabriel Tapia: “Our goal was to start fast and execute and get on the board early. We did that and that was nice to get on top and get on top early.”
— Will Hernandez
ROUNDUP
SANTA FE 21, WHITTIER 19

Dylan Thomas caught a 36-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Chris Ramsey in the fourth quarter and the Santa Fe High School football team defeated Whittier 21-19 in a Del Rio League opener on Friday night at California High.
The touchdown and extra point, with 7:36 left, put the pressure on the Chiefs’ defense. Whittier (3-3) got the ball on the 40 and marched to the 22. But on fourth-and-6, quarterback Dylan Salcido’s pass was batted down by the Chiefs with 1:38 to play.
Ramsey completed 12 of 25 passes for 159 yards and another TD pass, to Javier Valdivia, for the Chiefs (2-4). Running back Joshua Cooper had 117 yards and a touchdown run. He also caught four passes.
Salcido completed 8 of 15 passes for 82 yards, including a 33-yard TD pass to Rodrigo Pastrano. Salcido rushed for scores of 76 and 5 yards. Alex Repana rushed for 91 yards on 15 carries.
— Angel Gutierrez
DEL RIO LEAGUE
LA SERNA 71, PIONEER 6

The Lancers (3-3) rushed to a 50-0 halftime lead in the Del Rio League opener.
Matthew Marshall and Calvin Salcido combined to score the first five touchdowns. Marshall ran the ball in three times and Salcido scored on an interception return and on a rushing attempt.
The Titans (0-6) avoided their third shutout loss of the season with a fourth-quarter score.
— Staff reports
SUBURBAN LEANGUE
LA MIRADA 66, ARTESIA 15

Tristan Meyer threw seven touchdown passes and the host Matadores (5-2, 3-0) won their 15th consecutive Suburban League game.
The much-improved Pioneers (5-2, 2-1), trying to start league play 3-0 for the first time since 2008, kept it close until 4:45 left in the half.
Meyer threw a 92-yard TD pass to Jeremy Clark to open a 28-12 La Mirada lead. The Pioneers drove to the Matadores 2, but Cameron Chapman intercepted a Heder Gladden pass. Meyer then made it 35-12 on a 10-yard pass to Clark.
Meyer completed 18 of 23 passes for 361 yards. Clark had six receptions for 155 yards and his two scores and Garrett Bronkar had two TD receptions. No La Mirada running back had more than four carries.
— Teren Guerra
FREEWAY LEAGUE
LA HABRA 24, TROY 10

After going through its usual tough nonleague schedule, La Habra went back to something else that’s usual for the Highlanders: Winning Freeway League games.
A pair of second-half touchdowns broke a 10-10 tie at Fullerton High.
It was the 46th consecutive league win for the Highlanders (3-3). Troy (4-2) did make it interesting in the third quarter when Josiah Norwood completed a 24-yard touchdown pass to Mikale Hill with 7:38 remaining to make it 10-10.
La Habra promptly drove 65 yards in 12 plays and took 5 1/2 minutes off the clock. Zach Fogel completed a 9-yard scoring toss to Prince Ross to give the Highlanders the lead for good.
Midway through the first quarter, La Habra took the lead on a 5-yard touchdown run by Fogel. The touchdown was set up by a 28-yard pass from Fogel to Ross, a 17-yard run by Fogel and a 15-yard scamper by Derirck Corso.
The Highlanders finished with 319 yards. Jacobah Fuamutu led with 72 yards rushing on eight carries and Fogel rushed nine times for 71 yards.
— Dale Ruhe
BUENA PARK 55, SONORA 0
With nine consecutive league titles, La Habra has owned the Freeway League. While the Highlanders were struggling to put Troy away Friday night, the Coyotes were sending a message on their rival’s home field.
Buena Park’s defense was relentless, holding the Raiders to 24 total yards while its offense scored on all but one possession.
“They’re the champions until someone beats them and takes it from them,” Buena Park coach Anthony White said. “So that’s what we have to do.”
Buena Park’s showdown with La Habra is Oct. 21 at Buena Park.
— Michael Ambrose
OTHER SCORES
Almont League

Schurr 2, Keppel 0 (forfeit)
Bell Gardens 47, San Gabriel 22
Del Rio League
El Rancho 42, California 28
HOW THE TOP TEN FARED
1. La Mirada (4-2) def. Artesia, 66-15
2. La Habra (3-3) def. Troy, 24-10
3. La Serna (3-3) def. Pioneer, 71-6
4. St. Paul (2-4) lost to Cathedral, 40-0
5. Montebello (5-1) def. Alhambra, 30-12
6. Whittier (3-3) lost to No. 10 Santa Fe, 21-19
7. Schurr (4-2) def. Keppel, 2-0 (forfeit)
8. Whittier Christian (4-2), vs. Heritage Chr. on Saturday
9. California (3-3) lost to El Rancho, 42-28
10. Santa Fe (3-3) def. No. 6 Whittier, 21-19

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