By Brian Reed-Baiotto, Sports Editor Heading into Thursday’s season opener, his St. Francis coaches and teammates all said they believed junior quarterback Darius Perrantes was capable of big things. And despite never starting a game at the varsity level, Perrantes appeared cool, calm and collected. Perrantes went on to exceed even the wildest of expectations, […]
By Brian Reed-Baiotto, Sports Editor
Heading into Thursday’s season opener, his St. Francis coaches and teammates all said they believed junior quarterback Darius Perrantes was capable of big things.
And despite never starting a game at the varsity level, Perrantes appeared cool, calm and collected.
Perrantes went on to exceed even the wildest of expectations, as the Golden Knights new QB threw for 305 yards, rushed for another 60 and threw 6 TD passes.
St. Francis dominated visiting Mira Costa, 48-21, in the season opener for both teams.
Perrantes threw TD passes of 38, 23, 64, 53, 45 and 8 yards, and he didn’t even play much of the fourth quarter once the game was out of reach.
His favorite target was senior Greg Dulcich, who caught six balls for 135 yards and that included TD receptions of 38, 23 and 45 yards.
Dulcich, too, had 50-plus yards on the ground when he replaced Perrantes at quarterback late in the second half.
St. Francis (1-0) held just a 21-14 lead at the break, but the Golden Knights outscored Mira Costa, 27-7 in the decisive second half.
Perrantes connected with Isaac Cordova on a 64-yard score, Andrew Monarrez on a 53-yard TD and his final score of the game went to Blake Howard from 8 yards out.
But the Golden Knights weren’t quite done scoring.
Kevin Armstead came on to replace Elijah Washington and used some nifty foot work to score on a 28-yard sprint to cap the St. Francis offense in the fourth quarter.
Washington finished with 80 yards on just 10 carries, but being the selfless teammate the Golden Knights captain is, he had a huge smile on his face because his boys opened the season with a victory.
The St. Francis defense had a couple breakdowns and allowed the Mustangs 433 yards (281 passing, 152 rushing) of total offense.
But except for a couple big plays for Mira Costa, Will Stewart, and the new-and-improved Gabriel Grbavac caused headaches all night for the Mustangs line and backfield.
Grbavac is down 30 pounds after doing MMA training in the offseason and he’s even quicker and more dominant than even a year ago.
Stewart had a fumble recovery for the Golden Knights.
The only blips on the map were a missed extra-point attempt, a bad snap on a punt and far too many penalties on both sides (an estimated 35 in all).
But considering the weather and it being the first game of the year, coach Jim Bonds was (rightfully) happy and so were his coaches and players.
Andrew Monarrez had two catches for 64 yards, including the TD reception.
St. Francis will play at Pasadena next Friday at 7.
The Bulldogs (0-1) are in action tonight (Friday) at Maranatha.
Quotable:
SF coach Jim Bonds: “One of the things we’ve always done is take what the defense gives us, and that’s what Darius did tonight. He put some balls on the money and Greg and Andrew and Isaac all came through with big catches and nice runs after catches.”
SF QB Darius Perrantes: “I was nervous at first and then adrenaline started pumping and after the first touchdown it pumped our team up. I know I can make plays. I told them not to give up on plays, I can move around and throw anywhere on the field.”
SF captain Greg Dulcich: “He (Darius) did a good job improvising and getting me the ball after the pocket broke down. We have some good chemistry and I’m looking forward to that for the rest of the season.”
SF captain Elijah Washinton: “His first varsity start as a quarterback. He did what he came to do. I’m a team guy, so whatever gets my team the win is good with me. We can’t give up those big plays (going forward).”
SF receiver Andrew Monarrez: “I have to give all the props to the O-line. They all make it happen for us. And Darius Perrantes, the young junior is talented and made it happen. I just want to contribute as much as I can.”
SF linebacker Will Stewart: “I think just going for that big guy’s legs helped bring him down and stopping their offense. We had a mishap on the defense (giving up a couple big-yard plays) but it’s easily fixable.”
Box Score:
Mira Costa: 7-7-7-0-(21)
St. Francis: 7-14-14-13-(48)
Scoring:
SF: Greg Dulcich 38 pass from Darius Perrantes (Nico Boschetti kick)
MC: Cole Trejo 67 pass from Reed Vabrey (kick good)
SF: Greg Dulcich 23 pass from Darius Perrantes (Nico Boschetti kick)
SF: Isaac Cordova 64 pass from Darius Perrantes (Nico Boschetti kick)
MC: Koda Thornodsgaard 63 pass from Reed Vabrey (kick good)
SF: Andrew Monarrez 53 pass from Darius Perrantes (Nico Boschetti kick)
SF: Greg Dulcich 45 pass from Darius Perrantes (Nico Boschetti kick)
MC: Cole Trejo 10 run (kick good)
SF: Blake Howard 8 pass from Darius Perrantes (kick failed)
SF: Kevin Armstead 28 run (Nico Boschetti kick)
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