By BRIAN REED-BAIOTTO, Sports Editor | Photography Ryan Tomey To say that St. Francis sophomore Kevin Armstead ‘saved the Golden Knights season” would be as literal as things get. La Serna, the same Lancers team that got bushwhacked by St. Francis, 49-20, eight weeks ago, weren’t going to go down without a fight in the first […]
By BRIAN REED-BAIOTTO, Sports Editor | Photography Ryan Tomey
To say that St. Francis sophomore Kevin Armstead ‘saved the Golden Knights season” would be as literal as things get.
La Serna, the same Lancers team that got bushwhacked by St. Francis, 49-20, eight weeks ago, weren’t going to go down without a fight in the first round of the CIF-SS Division 3 playoffs.
The Lancers, in fact, trailing 31-27, drove all the way to the St. Francis red zone and were yards away from moving on, and in the process, ending the Golden Knights year in disappointment.
And among all the star seniors you might guess would be most likely to step up to prolong their season, it was a selfless sophomore named Kevin Armstead that played the hero of the night.
Armstead said he noticed La Serna quarterback Andrew Henriquez looking towards his wide receiver and knew the ball was coming his way with under one minute to play in the game.
Armstead read it perfectly, but it also took a diving effort and catch to thwart a La Serna upset, and he did both to save the game and season for St. Francis.
St. Francis hung on for the 31-27 win, and they’ll travel 66 miles to Citrus Hill (10-1) in Perris this Friday in the quarterfinal round.
Aside from his last-minute, defensive heroics, Armstead also scored two rushing TD’s and finished the game with 53 yards on 12 carries.
Elijah Washington had a team-high 69 yards on 11 carries.
Darius Perrantes went 12 of 26 for 169 yards.
The Golden Knights’ junior connected with Greg Dulcich on a 20-yard score and ran one in from 6 yards out for another.
Poly (8-2-1) said goodbye to a special senior class after falling to Montebello, 28-24, on Friday night at South Pasadena High School.
Cameron McFarlane scored on a 34-yard run.
Graham Olson had a 7-yard TD as well.
Franco Alonso picked off the Montebello quarterback and brought it back for a Panthers’ score.
Aaron Tyler’s field goal rounded out the Poly scoring effort.
And while they’re disappointed their season and in many cases, their football careers are over, this senior class, including Christian Henderson, Jackson Hayes, Cameron McFarlane, Matt Loomis, Matt Queen, Graham Olson, Ryan Clayton Jack Babcock, Jonathan Thein, James Olson, Zane Behary, Michael Van Citters, Sean Tibay, Liam Rawlinson, Whitford George, Ben Bryson and Charlie Foy went 18-3-1 over the past two seasons.
That also included back-to-back Prep League championships.
Maranatha (6-5) knew its chances of leaving San Bernardino with a first-round victory over top-seeded Aquinas wasn’t good.
The Falcons (11-0) were never challenged by the Minutemen, but that doesn’t take away from a very successful MHS season.
They doubled their win total of a year ago, and they rode the right arm of senior Kwon Peterson.
Peterson finished the season with an area-best 21 touchdowns and over 2,000 yards.
Senior Awan Parker led MHS with 1,300 all-purpose yards and 13 TD’s, which included scores on the ground and through the air.
Quotable:
St. Francis coach Jim Bonds: “It was great to see our boys in a heated battle find a way to win. It’s hard to convince 16-18 year old kids that after beating a team, 49-20, in the regular season, that the playoff atmosphere will be different. I give a ton of credit for the players and coaches at La Serna hard-fought game and a great plan. We’re excited to be moving on to the quarterfinals.”
St. Francis sophomore Kevin Armstead: “Our defense was struggling in the first half in allowing them to score easy points, and I feel Coach Gibbons (defensive coordinator) was calling fantastic coverages and formations to only allow them to score 6 second-half points. Offensively, we were clicking in the second half with Elijah and myself getting the dirty yards, but it’s playoff football, so that’s OK. Our offensive line was amazing, especially after losing senior Kevin Macho. I felt that they did a wonderful job. The play I made to seal the game, I saw the quarterback look at his wide receiver, and I knew the ball was coming my way, and it was in my hands to make a play, and that’s what I did. I may have won the game (on that play), but this was for sure a ‘team’ win.”
