From left to right: Kevin Macho, Nick Konrad, Sean Barkley, Luke Hunter and Matt Barriga. By Brian Reed-Baiotto, Sports Editor Elijah Washington will get a ton of credit in Friday’s 49-16, Angelus League victory at La Salle, and deservedly so, but there are plenty of others who deserve praise as well. Washington, one of three […]
From left to right: Kevin Macho, Nick Konrad, Sean Barkley, Luke Hunter and Matt Barriga.
By Brian Reed-Baiotto, Sports Editor
Elijah Washington will get a ton of credit in Friday’s 49-16, Angelus League victory at La Salle, and deservedly so, but there are plenty of others who deserve praise as well.
Washington, one of three ‘Golden Knights’ (a St. Francis captain, along with Matt Barriga and Greg Dulcich) had a career night with 205 yards rushing on 21 carries.
The senior running back also scored five touchdowns and none better than his 29-yard, second-quarter jaunt where Washington weaved through a sea of Lancers’ defenders and with one final lunge, he found the end zone on his stomach.
But coach Jim Bonds and Washington himself gave much of the credit to his offensive line.
Washington named Nick Konrad, Sean Barkley, Luke Hunter, Kevin Macho, Matt Barriga, and William Zhang.
He said he hoped he wasn’t forgetting anyone.
Washington has an area-best 14 rushing TD’s and the Golden Knights are the lone Pasadena-area football program without a loss.
Often times quarterback Darius Perrantes and receivers Greg Dulcich and Blake Howard earn the headlines.
Each did their part in Friday’s win as usual, but not enough is said about Kevin Armstead and Isaac Cordova, as well as the contributions of Andrew Monarrez.
All you have to do is watch film to see how valuable these guys are.
Armstead could be the No. 1 running back anywhere and the sophomore does his part on both sides of the ball, including 75 yards on just 5 carries Friday night.
Monarrez is a sure-handed receiver with two TD’s, he blocks well, and is a solid defensive back.
And perhaps the most underrated player on the Golden Knights, at least to this reporter, is senior receiver-defensive back Isaac Cordova.
He demands zero credit for anything, but has earned plenty, and the best part is that he does it behind the scenes.
Cordova is that receiver who makes diving catches when Dulcich and Howard are covered, but as important, he’s the guy out front clearing the way for Washington and Armstead to extends runs down field.
Perrantes is slowly coming back to form from injury and has played limited minutes thanks to six blowouts in seven games.
He threw six TD passes in the season opener, but since then, the junior has four TD passes and after Friday, he’s thrown five interceptions.
Perrantes is a tough kid, though, and Bonds credited him with making audibles at the line of scrimmage that paid off, and he’s also someone who is willing to go head on with a linebacker when running the ball.
Matt Barriga is an imposing figure on the offensive line at 6-foot-4 and 245 pounds.
But no one expected him to score on Friday.
He picked up a loose ball on the 1-yard line and walked in for the score.
“I was just blocking my man and I happened to look and see the ball come out and it landed right in front of me, so I just picked it up and ran straight ahead,” Barriga said. “As a big man, it was a crazy thing especially when all of the offensive line came running over to celebrate. It was a crazy play and a crazy moment. Elijah just went off. I mean he was running with a purpose, and when he gets in that mind set, it’s a fun thing to watch. He is such a great athlete.”
Sean Barkley is also a key member up front and the senior anchors the offensive line at center.
Said Barkley: “The O-Line is the unit that has to dominate every game if the team is going to get a win. When the boys up front take care of their business, our playmakers have the chance to shine, and they do. It’s awesome when you’re on the O-Line and blocking for people that you know can play at the next level. It gives you a sense of urgency and elevates your play. We feed off of those guys and they feed off of us.”
No one at St. Francis will say this, but I will.
Next week, the Golden Knights are going to pad their stats when they travel to Salesian (1-6, 0-2) in an Angelus League game.
Salesian has been outscored 305-122 overall, and 98-14 in Angelus League losses to La Salle and Harvard-Westlake.
Worse yet, Salesian has a penchant of taking cheap shots like they did against La Salle and Bonds and his crew will have their players’ heads on a swivel to avoid injuries.
Last week, at La Salle, Dante Coxsom scored on a 37-yard sprint and a Salesian player shoved Coxsom from behind when he was 8 yards deep in the end zone, and it sent him flying into a barrier that separates fans from the players.
Later in the game, another player was ejected for attempting to rip off a La Salle helmet from behind.
That said, the last two weeks of the regular season will be incredibly intense, as St. Francis will host Harvard-Westlake (6-1, 1-1) and end the season with Cathedral (6-1, 2-0).
La Salle (3-4, 1-1) is young, and they weren’t able to match the talent and experience St. Francis has, but coach Russell Gordon’s team fought throughout and they’re planting the seeds for a successful future.
That future will obviously surround freshman quarterback CJ Montes, who has shown signs of inexperience as well as signs of what’s to come.
He completed 15 of 36 passes and had TD’s to Chris Wilson and Justin Lockhart.
Montes certainly has a lot of growing to do both physically and in his decision making, but he will be special.
Kole Hamane had his best game of the season, gaining nearly 60 yards on the ground.
But it was the senior’s second and third efforts on runs that impressed people at Friday’s showdown.
Chris Wilson, who started the season sharing the QB duties with Montes caught another TD pass on Friday.
His willingness to move forward and doing whatever is asked of him to better the Lancers says a lot about his character.
La Salle started five freshman and they will continue to get better.
On top of that, if La Salle qualifies for the CIF-SS playoffs, they’re likely to give anyone in Division 8 at least a run for their money.
Perhaps the most impressive guy on the field for the Lancers is senior linebacker Joey Rivera.
He’s out-sized, he’s not super fast, but he’s got the heart of a lion.
Rivera was all over the field and making tackles on senior night.
He gave his sweat and blood for the La Salle effort in taking on a superior St. Francis team this year.
But not only did he not back down, Rivera, despite being thoroughly disappointed showed a world of class by praising the St. Francis coaching staff and their star running back, Elijah Washington’s 200-yard, 5 TD effort.
Any program, team or school could use more guys like Joey Rivera.
Maranatha (5-3, 0-1) bounced back from three straight losses by defeating Fillmore on the road.
The Minutemen had to overcome a 21-point deficit to an inferior program, but finished the game on a 40-0 run.
Kwon Peterson was back to being the guy we saw in the first four weeks.
The senior quarterback threw for nearly 300 yards and also had 4 TD passes.
He connected with Sumner Ortlund on two scores, and Jacob Moreno and Awan Parker each caught a TD pass from Peterson.
“The way we’ve been playing the last few weeks hasn’t been good,” Peterson said, “The win gives us some momentum. We started tackling better and our defense really shaped up. The offense has been struggling too, but we took advantage of what they gave us. We put in a screen last week, and it worked well this week. We started really badly, but we never gave up and overcome the adversity.”
Coach Steve Bogan will have to get his boys ready for next Friday’s match up with Olympic League rival Whittier Christian on Senior Night.
“We definitely got some confidence back. This was the second time we came from behind and won with a solid second half,” Bogan said.
Poly (5-1-1) came back from its bye week and the Panthers put together another solid effort on both sides of the ball.
The Panthers hammered Boron, 34-8, and had contributions from almost everyone that stepped on the field.
Poly has won their past four games by a combined margin of 154-14 in victories over Mary Star of the Sea, Rosamond, Maranatha and Boron.
Graham Olson, for the most part, has taken over the full-time quarterbacking duties.
Olson threw two TD passes to Jackson Hayes, and he can also hurt you with his legs.
“Our defense was playing amazing, but it took our offense a little while to warm up,” Olson said. “We have been working really hard at practice and I think that’s given us a lot of confidence.”
The Panthers continue to feature a number of players that do so many things that sometimes even stats can’t measure.
We speak often about Olson, Hayes, Christian Henderson, Cameron McFarlane and others.
But it can’t be overstated how important Franco Alonso, Matt Queen, Thomas McConnell, Jackson Treister, James Olson and Sean Tibay are to Poly’s success.
I am sure coach Chris Schmoke would name off his entire roster if given the chance when asked about those responsible for the run the Panthers find themselves on.
Poly will travel to Valencia Thursday night to take on Trinity Classical Academy in the Prep League opener at 7:30
Week 7 Scores:
Burbank 42, Pasadena 0
St. Francis 49, La Salle 16
Poly 34, Boron 8
Maranatha 40, Fillmore 21
Muir 55, Glendale 0
Mountain View 70, Marshall 0
Week 8 Schedule:
Thursday: Poly at Trinity Classical at 7:30
Thursday: Arroyo vs Marshall at Pasadena High at 7
Friday: La Salle at Cathedral at 7
Friday: St. Francis at Salesian at 7
Friday: Whittier Christian at Maranatha at 7
Friday: Hoover at Pasadena at 7
Friday: Muir at Burroughs at 7
Football Standings Through October 13
Angelus League Standings:
St. Francis (7-0 overall, 2-0 in league)
Cathedral (6-1, 2-0)
Harvard-Westlake (6-1, 1-1)
La Salle (3-4, 1-1)
St. Paul (2-5, 0-2)
Salesian (1-6, 0-2)
Mission Valley League Standings:
Arroyo (8-0 overall, 4-0 in league)
Rosemead (3-5, 3-1)
South El Monte (6-1, 2-1)
El Monte (4-3, 2-1)
Mountain View (4-4, 1-3)
Gabrielino (2-5, 0-3)
Marshall (1-6, 0-3)
Olympic League Standings:
Heritage Christian (7-0 overall, 1-0 in league)
Valley Christian (5-2, 1-0)
Maranatha (5-3, 0-1)
Whittier Christian (3-4, 0-1)
Pacific League:
Crescenta Valley (7-0 overall, 4-0 in league)
Burbank (5-2, 4-0)
Arcadia (4-3, 3-1)
Muir (4-3, 2-2)
Burroughs (3-3, 2-2)
Pasadena (1-6, 1-3)
Glendale (2-5, 0-4)
Hoover (1-6, 0-4)
Prep League Standings:
Poly (5-1-1)
Rio Hondo Prep (4-2)
Trinity Classical (2-5)
Firebaugh (2-5)
