From Top Clockwise: Graham Olson, Cameron McFarlane, Christian Henderson, Jackson Hayes, Gabriel Grbavac, Isaac Cordova, Blake Howard, Greg Dulcich. By BRIAN REED-BAIOTTO, Sports Editor Week five of the prep football season saw St. Francis and Poly continue to blow out opponents, and the Panthers and Golden Knights did so on the road. But it was […]
From Top Clockwise: Graham Olson, Cameron McFarlane, Christian Henderson, Jackson Hayes, Gabriel Grbavac, Isaac Cordova, Blake Howard, Greg Dulcich.
By BRIAN REED-BAIOTTO, Sports Editor
Week five of the prep football season saw St. Francis and Poly continue to blow out opponents, and the Panthers and Golden Knights did so on the road.
But it was also the same week that Pasadena earned its first win of the season.
And trending downwards was Maranatha and especially Muir.
Both La Salle and Marshall had their bye weeks.
St. Francis 39, Buena Park 14:
The Golden Knights (5-0) sat quarterback Darius Perrantes in order to have the junior more healthy and ready when they host St. Paul in an Angelus League opener next Friday.
Greg Dulcich took over at quarterback, and scored three rushing TD’s, but he was picked off twice, including a Pick-6 that accounted for one of the two Coyotes’ scores.
With Perrantes back on Friday, Dulcich can move back to wide receiver and resume what he does best, which is stretching a defense and getting big gains after catches.
The 6-foot-4 senior completed 15 of 22 passes for 151 yards, and gained 90 yards on the ground, including the three scores.
Dulcich is arguably the area’s best big-game receiver.
Gabriel Grbavac and his tag team partner, Matt Barriga, both defensive ends, kept the Buena Park offense off balance all night.
Grbavac blocked a punt that Max Mota picked up and brought back for the Golden Knights’ second score of the night, and he also forced another turnover later in the game.
Isaac Cordova, Andrew Monarrez, Elijah Washington, Blake Howard and Kevin Armstead all made catches that set up St. Francis scores.
Cordova had two catches for 41 yards.
Elijah Washington anchored the ground game, including a short TD run to begin the Golden Knights’ scoring last night.
Washington had 70 yards rushing and the score.
St. Francis also saw its offensive line control the line of scrimmage and gave Washington the holes to run and Dulcich the time he needed in the pocket.
Nico Boschetti also looked good on special teams, including a fourth-quarter 27-yard field goal.
Poly 29, Maranatha 0:
Talk about teams going in different directions.
Poly (4-1-1) lost their first game of the season way back in ‘Week Zero’ at Temple City, but the Panthers have gone 4-0-1 over the last five weeks.
The last three weeks, Poly has defeated Mary Star of the Sea, Rosamond and Maranatha by a combined score of 125-6.
Maranatha (4-2) never got into an offensive rhythm Thursday night.
The Minutemen scored 112 points in their first three games, but in their past 12 quarters, Maranatha has scored a total of 10 points.
But the “whispers” or second guessers that somehow MHS coach Steve Bogan has lost his touch or that quarterback Kwon Peterson isn’t the guy he was three weeks ago is ridiculous.
Bogan is a universally respected and four-time CIF championship coach, and it wasn’t at small schools where he reached the pinnacle.
Bogan won titles at South Hills in a very competitive and highly-skilled bracket.
And as far as Peterson goes, the senior is just as athletic, accurate and mobile as he was a couple weeks ago, but you can’t make plays when 40-percent of your original (starters) offensive line is on the sidelines in street clothes, and your opponents are in your backfield.
In the past few weeks, only Sumner Ortlund has really made a big play at receiver for Peterson and the Minutemen.
Back to Thursday’s game, though, Poly got two rushing TD’s from Cameron McFarlane and one each from Christian Henderson and Graham Olson.
Poly enters their bye week on a high note, and Maranatha has to buckle up their helmets and head to Cerritos to take on Olympic League rival and defending CIF champion Valley Christian next week.
But make no mistake about it, when you have 25 guys suited up and key players are injured and others aren’t making the plays they did earlier in the season, that isn’t on a coach or a quarterback.
Sure, Peterson has gone two weeks without a TD pass, and he’ll be the first to acknowledge that, but the senior still has the arm, accuracy and confidence to take over a game when given the opportunity.
For Poly coach Chris Schmoke, he’s heading into the break on a high note, but he would like to see his Panthers’ shore up their kicking game, especially field goal attempts.
Pasadena broke through with a huge Pacific League victory on Friday.
The Bulldogs 24-20 win over visiting Glendale was not only PHS’s first win of the season, they outscored the Nitros, 10-0, in the fourth quarter to get in the win column.
It also moved PHS (1-4, 1-1) four spots up in the Pacific League standings.
Muir (2-3, 0-2) is heading in the opposite direction.
After starting the season 2-0 and by a combined score of 86-0, the Mustangs are headed nowhere fast.
Muir fell, 21-20, two weeks ago against visiting La Salle, and then were blown out on their own field last week to Arcadia, 35-19.
Things took an even steeper turn for the worse, and from the beginning, as Crecenta Valley controlled throughout, 38-8.
But worse yet, as another news outlet described it, that Muir coach Antyone Sims was ejected in the first half when he ran halfway onto the field to confront a referee.
The report was that Sims had to be held back by his assistant coaches before the situation got any worse.
So, in a week the Mustangs dropped their third game in a row, and second in league, their arch-rivals at Pasadena leapfrogged them in the Pacific League standings.
Next Friday’s Football Schedule (7 p.m.):
Salesian at La Salle (Angelus League Game)
St. Paul at St. Francis (Angelus League)
Crescenta Valley at Pasadena (Pacific League)
Muir at Hoover (Pacific League)
Maranatha at Valley Christian (Olympic League)
Marshall at El Monte (Mission Valley League)
Football Standings Through September 30
Angelus League:
St. Francis (5-0)
Harvard-Westlake (5-0)
Cathedral (4-1)
La Salle (2-3)
St. Paul (2-3)
Salesian (1-4)
Mission Valley League:
Arroyo (6-0 overall, 2-0 in league)
South El Monte (6-0, 2-0)
El Monte (3-2, 1-0)
Rosemead (1-5, 1-1)
Marshall (1-4, 0-1)
Mountain View (3-3, 0-2)
Gabrielino (1-4-1, 0-2)
Olympic League:
Heritage Christian (4-0)
Maranatha (4-2)
Valley Christian (4-2)
Whittier Christian (3-3)
Pacific League:
Crescenta Valley (5-0 overall, 2-0 in league)
Burbank (3-2, 2-0)
Arcadia (3-3, 2-0)
Burroughs (2-2, 1-1)
Pasadena (1-4, 1-1)
Glendale (2-3, 0-2)
Muir (2-3, 0-2)
Hoover (1-4, 0-2)
Prep League:
Rio Hondo Prep (3-1)
Poly (4-1-1)
Trinity Classical Academy (2-2)
Firebaugh (2-4)
