By Brian Reed-Baiotto, Sports Editor Both St. Francis and La Salle won their Angelus League openers on Friday to set up this week’s head-to-head Angelus League and crosstown showdown. The Lancers throttled Salesian, 51-7, in a game they could have scored 80 points. La Salle (3-3, 1-0) took their foot off the petal after the […]
By Brian Reed-Baiotto, Sports Editor
Both St. Francis and La Salle won their Angelus League openers on Friday to set up this week’s head-to-head Angelus League and crosstown showdown.
The Lancers throttled Salesian, 51-7, in a game they could have scored 80 points.
La Salle (3-3, 1-0) took their foot off the petal after the first drive of the second half, and the final two quarters included a running clock at the request of the Mustangs’ coach.
Salesian was as dirty as they were bad, and both sides are lucky that serious injuries didn’t result because of the classless behavior by the Mustangs.
CJ Montes threw TD passes of 21 and 48 yards, and he scored on a 6-yard run.
Montes’ connections were to Justin Lockhart and Chris Wilson.
Dante Coxsom and Damian Curl both had a pair of rushing touchdowns each, and the Lancers were as balanced as they have been all season.
And make no mistake about it, as well as the Lancers played, they and everyone expected to blowout Salesian.
The most impressive change, though, for a team that entered the season without a player that had scored a varsity touchdown is the discipline in which coach Russell Gordon’s young team plays with.
Last season, and without any disrespect to 22 seniors that made La Salle history, the Lancers were notorious for personal fouls at the worst possible moments, and it was something Gordon and his staff were quite frankly embarrassed to answer for on a weekly basis.
So his staff emphasized from day one and each day thereafter that higher expectations were the only acceptable code of conduct if they wanted to wear the La Salle gear.
Friday’s blowout was a perfect example of the new-look Lancers.
Senior Dante Coxsom ran around the left end and then 37 yards into the end zone for a second-quarter TD.
About seven yards deep, and with Coxsom running towards his classmates waiting behind a barrier in the east end zone, a Salesian player (we won’t mention by name) cowardly pushed an unsuspecting Coxsom and sent him flying.
It would have been completely understandable if Coxsom jumped up in a rage, but he shook it off and gave each of his teammates a high-five that had run down to the end zone to congratulate him.
Coxsom reacted so indifferently as if to say “even with a dirty play, you’re not going to get me to react.”
Later in the game, a Salesian player attempted to rip a La Salle player’s helmet off and while the Mustang player was ejected, the Lancer went back into his huddle as if nothing bad had just happened.
The stark difference in general has been astounding, but to behave so maturely even when taunted or cheap shots are directed their way has been incredible, and it’s something that both the players and coaches should be proud of, not to mention the entire school.
But one other player should be mentioned and that’s sophomore Chris Wilson.
Wilson started the first few games at quarterback, and he split time by design with freshman CJ Montes.
It’s turned out that for now Montes is clearly the better fit at quarterback.
And while it was certainly a kick in the stones to Wilson and any athlete with pride, he had two choices.
Wilson could either pout or man-up and find another way to contribute with his buddies and for the program.
Despite being just a sophomore, Wilson has shown a maturity in accepting a different role as tight end and defensive end, and he’s making a difference at both spots.
Wilson is a kid that every coach and program could use, both physically and for his character.
St. Francis (6-0, 1-0) is the area’s last undefeated program, and there is no doubt they’re the area’s best team in 2017.
The Golden Knights defeated St. Paul 24-7 after taking a 24-0 lead into the fourth quarter.
Despite staying perfect and defeating an Angelus League rival, most of the players and coaches had a more indifferent attitude to the outcome.
Jim Bonds, his staff and players took almost zero satisfaction in the win, because they felt they were shooting themselves in the foot throughout and hadn’t made the progress they know they’re capable of making.
But almost any program in the southern section would love to have the problem of being an unhappy 6-0 program.
Bonds and his staff, while players and parents went home, spent the next few hours going over the film and getting ready for the boys to return to the school for a Saturday morning practice.
St. Francis has four games left with La Salle, Salesian, Harvard-Westlake and then the season-ending showdown with Cathedral.
Back to Friday’s victory over the Swordsmen: senior running backs Elijah Washington and Kevin Armstead continued to be the area’s most consistent rushing tandem.
Armstead had 97 yards on the ground, and Washington finished with 90 yards and TD runs of 42 and 9 yards.
Nico Boschetti has started to become one of the area’s most consistent special teams’ kickers and had a 37-yard field goal to get the St. Francis offense going Friday.
Darius Perrantes was back in the saddle again and he looked a little rusty, going 9 of 21 for 118 yards and the junior was picked once.
St. Francis will travel up Michilinda Avenue to Sierra Madre Boulevard to take on La Salle at 7 on Friday.
Pasadena (1-5, 1-2) might have dropped a 48-33 shootout with first-place and undefeated Crescenta Valley, but the Bulldogs showed their mettle in mounting a huge comeback.
PHS is actually tied with Muir and just one-game back of both Arcadia and Burroughs for second place in the Pacific League standings.
Senior quarterback Randy Santellan had a career day for Pasadena.
Santellan threw for north of 400 yards and 5 TD passes.
He hit Christian Lee on three scores including a pair of 80-yard strikes and two to his twin brother, Anthony, to mount the Bulldogs comeback.
Santellan had been injured and his return has PHS believing they can challenge the league’s hierarchy, including crosstown rival Muir.
But as Santellan said, they are only fixated on Burbank, who they play on Thursday night at Burroughs High School.
The cool part for the PHS football program is they play the teams ahead of them (Arcadia and Burbank) so they hold their destiny in their own hands.
It will all be up to Jalen Jolley, Jalonji West, Lee, and the Santellan brothers to decide their own fate, and what athlete wouldn’t welcome that scenario?
Muir (3-3, 1-2) bounced back from three consecutive losses.
The Mustangs shut out lowly, Hoover, 48-0, on Friday night to get their first Pacific League victory.
Muir will almost certainly get back to the .500 mark in league when they host a Glendale team that gives up nearly 50 points per game on Friday night at 7.
Maranatha (4-3, 0-1) and Marshall (1-5, 0-2) both lost soundly.
The Eagles have begun Mission League play with a pair of losses to Rosemead and El Monte by a combined margin of 113-13.
Marshall will travel to Mountain View (3-4, 0-3) on Friday.
After starting the season 4-0, the Minutemen have lost their last three by a combined score of 134-17, to Brentwood, Poly and Valley Christian, in that order.
Maranatha will travel to Fillmore on Friday, and will snap that losing streak.
The Flashes have zero flash, as they’re 0-6 and have scored just 12 points the entire season.
Fillmore also features a gracious defense, allowing an average of 40 points per.
Maranatha will close out the season with Olympic League games that will determine whether they’ll make the postseason.
In two weeks, they’ll host Whittier Christian (3-3) and on Oct. 27, Heritage Christian (6-0) will travel to Pasadena to finish out the regular season.
Poly (4-1-1) was on their bye week and the Panthers are currently enjoying a three-game winning streak.
They’ve defeated Mary Star of the Sea, Rosamond and Maranatha by a combined score of 122-6, including defensive efforts that blanked both Mary Star and Marantha.
Poly will travel to Boron on Friday before opening Prep League play on October 19 at Trinity Classical Academy.
Quotable:
La Salle running back Damian Curl: “I had to block and made sure the quarterback (CJ Montes) got the ball out in time. I wanted to do a little bit better. I want us to come out every quarter and go full throttle.. not hold back anything. We got two of our players back and that was a big help.”
Pasadena quarterback Randy Santellan: “I was very proud of us as a unit for not laying down and giving up. We have a lot of heart as a team. The first half didn’t go our way, but we made the adjustments at halftime and came out and played like it was 0-0. The way we played in the second half was amazing and I am proud of everyone, including the coaches, and that’s how we need to play the entire game. We need to start fast and finish strong.”
St. Francis receiver-linebacker Blake Howard: “I think we were shooting ourselves in the foot a lot of the time and letting St. Paul stay in the game. We did a lot of good things, but also made some mistakes throughout the game, so we just need to focus on correcting our mistakes and work through them. I think we’re all looking forward to the La Salle game. It’s always a fun game especially because of how close they are, so it’s always fun to play against some old buddies.”
Last Week’s Scores:
La Salle 51, Salesian 7
St. Francis 24, St. Paul 7
Muir 48, Hoover 0
Crescenta Valley 48, Pasadena 33
Cerritos Valley Christian 63, Maranatha 14
El Monte 59, Marshall 7
Week 7 Schedule:
Thursday: Pasadena vs Burbank at Burroughs High School at 7
Friday: St. Francis at La Salle at 7
Friday: Marshall at Mountain View at 7
Friday: Maranatha at Fillmore at 7:30
Friday: Poly at Boron at 7
Friday: Glendale at Muir at 7
Football Standings Through Oct. 7:
Angelus League:
St. Francis (6-0 overall, 1-0 in league)
Cathedral (5-1, 1-0)
La Salle (3-3, 1-0)
Harvard-Westlake (4-1, 0-1)
St. Paul (2-4, 0-1)
Salesian (1-5, 0-1)
Mission Valley League:
Arroyo (7-0 overall, 3-0 in league)
El Monte (4-2, 2-0)
South El Monte (6-1, 2-1)
Rosemead (2-5, 2-1)
Gabrielino (2-4, 0-2)
Marshall (1-5, 0-2)
Mountain View (3-4, 0-3)
Olympic League:
Valley Christian (5-2 overall, 1-0 in league)
Heritage Christian (6-0, 0-0)
Whittier Christian (3-3, 0-0)
Maranatha (4-3, 0-1)
Pacific League:
Crescenta Valley (6-0 overall, 3-0 in league)
Burbank (4-2, 3-0)
Burroughs (3-2, 2-1)
Arcadia (3-4, 2-1)
Muir (3-3, 1-2)
Pasadena (1-5, 1-2)
Glendale (2-4, 0-3)
Hoover (1-5, 0-3)
Prep League:
Poly (4-1-1)
Rio Hondo Prep (3-2)
Trinity Classical (2-4)
Firebaugh (2-5)
