By BRIAN REED-BAIOTTO, Sports Editor | Photography by Ryan Tomey St. Francis coach Jim Bonds is one of the most respected football coaches in the game, but even he couldn’t take full credit for his Golden Knights seeming to peak right before next Friday’s Angelus League match up with defending champion, Cathedral. Before they could […]
By BRIAN REED-BAIOTTO, Sports Editor | Photography by Ryan Tomey
St. Francis coach Jim Bonds is one of the most respected football coaches in the game, but even he couldn’t take full credit for his Golden Knights seeming to peak right before next Friday’s Angelus League match up with defending champion, Cathedral.
Before they could even think about the Phantoms and their hopes of erasing bad memories of a year ago, the Golden Knights had to take on a Harvard-Westlake team that entered the game 7-1.
St. Francis thoroughly destroyed the Wolverines on Thursday night.
The Golden Knights took a 28-0 lead midway through the first quarter and the rout was on.
Seven different SF players scored TD’s and four of them had at least a pair of scores in the 77-27 blowout of visiting Harvard-Westlake.
The offensive output was so impressive that St. Francis’ 57 first-half points tied for the most points the Wolverines had given up in an entire game, let alone two quarters.
Darius Perrantes
Darius Perrantes, who had six TD passes in his first game way back on August 31, went into Thursday night’s contest with just four TD passes since then.
The junior was back, as Perrantes threw for 4 TD passes, and ran for another on a night everything seemed to go right for the Golden Knights offense.
Perrantes had TD passes of 67, 21, 4, and 50, and a 62-yard TD run.
He finished an efficient 10 of 14 for 280 yards, but more importantly, he looked healthy, agile and confident again.
Elijah Washington scored three times, with the most exciting being the 67-yard pass he took out in the flat from Perrantes and did the rest of the work.
Washington was able to allude the entire Wolverines’ offensive until it was too late, and the Golden Knights led, 7-0 just 30 seconds into the game.
Gabriel Grbavac, who does his damage at defensive end, caught a 21-yard strike from Perrantes after a Greg Dulcich long catch-and-run had set SF up for a second score.
Kevin Armstead
Kevin Armstead was outstanding as usual, as the sophomore scored two more times on Thursday, and finished with 80 yards rushing on just seven carries.
But Armstead’s most impressive moment was a diving interception that would make any Golden Knights’ receiver proud, while he played defense against the Wolverines’ Jameson Wang.
Greg Dulcich, one of three ‘Golden Knights’ (captains with Matt Barriga and Elijah Washington), caught TD passes of 4 and 50 yards.
The latter of the two was just before the end of the half for that extra kick in the groin.
But just like Perrantes, Dulcich was back to being Dulcich, with 129 yards receiving on four catches.
And it was nothing Greg was doing wrong, it’s just that the passing game had struggled of late, and in blowouts, he’s usually watching his backup from the second quarter on.
Doyle Kane replaced Perrantes and snuck in for a short score and to show just how versatile and athletic SF is, Max Mota put the final points on the board with a 67=yard sprint to the south end zone.
St. Francis accounted for over 600 yards of total offense, and they extended their win streak to nine games.
Bobby Gazmarian and Tony Norton both recovered fumbles on kickoffs, which eventuallly turned into 14 points.
One of the loudest moments of the night was when Hayden Dinger came into the game late, and sacked the Harvard-Westlake quarterback.
A roar went out among his teammates on the sidelines and the student section.
Even those who didn’t make plays on a stat sheet, made blocks and tackles and helped extend plays and drives, so Bonds couldn’t have been more happy with his team’s performance.
They now have 8 days to prepare for Cathedral to come to La Canada, as well as a TV crew, hoards of media, and the pressure of their brothers that graduated in 2016.
If Thursday is any indication as to whether they’re ready, you have to like St. Francis’ chances next Friday when they host the Phantoms.
Quotable:
SF coach Jim Bonds: “We are just starting to come together as a team and playing our best football. Tonight, it just kind of snowballed when we took advantage of some turnovers, and they answered back, so you’ve never comfortable. We were able to capitalize on every offensive possession, it seemed.”
SF captain Greg Dulcich: “We were firing on all cylinders offensively. Our run game was good and our passing game was unstoppable. On special teams, we had two huge fumble recoveries on kickoffs. We’ll watch film and be better next week.”
SF captain Elijah Washington: “We have been taking it week by week and that’s how St. Francis has always been. We didn’t plan to have this great of a game, and we did what we did and got the job done.”
SF junior Darius Perrantes: “It’s obviously great, because I’ve been in a slump the last few games. The line really helped out and I have some great players. I think it was just mind set and taking people too lightly.”
SF sophomore Kevin Armstead: “We just came out strong. Darius had some great passes, and the offensive line was great. I think we have the best lineman in the state. We just worked hard all week at practice.”
Box Score:
HW: 6-14-7-0-(27)
SF: 28-28-14-7-(77)
Angelus League Standings Through Oct. 26:
St. Francis (9-0 overall, 4-0 in league)
Cathedral (7-1, 3-0)
Harvard-Westlake (7-2, 2-2)
La Salle (3-5, 1-2)
St. Paul (2-6, 0-3)
Salesian (1-7, 0-4)
Friday’s Angelus League Games:
La Salle at St. Paul at 7
Salesian at Cathedral at 7
