By BRIAN REED-BAIOTTO, Sports Editor They say the true measure of a man’s character is how they react to adversity rather than when things are going well. By that measure, St. Francis has very strong character, and it starts at the top with head coach Jim Bonds. The Golden Knights dropped a gut-punching, sloppy game […]
By BRIAN REED-BAIOTTO, Sports Editor
They say the true measure of a man’s character is how they react to adversity rather than when things are going well.
By that measure, St. Francis has very strong character, and it starts at the top with head coach Jim Bonds.
The Golden Knights dropped a gut-punching, sloppy game last week at Cathedral in a battle of unbeaten powers.
They can’t go back and change that, but the Golden Knights let it be known on Friday at St. Paul that they were back, and headed to the playoffs on a high note.
St. Francis’ offense got back on track, and the Golden Knights cruised past the Swordsmen, 38-21, on the road.
The victory ups the St. Francis record to 9-1 overall, and 4-1 in Angelus League play. It also secured second place.
Michael Bonds was back to being Michael Bonds.
Bonds threw for 180 yards, including a 10-yard TD pass to Greg Dulcich and a 25-yard score to Daniel Scott.
He also scored on a 1-yard TD run on the Golden Knights’ first drive of the game, and the senior did not turn the ball over for the fourth time in the last five games.
“We wanted to start fast and get on them early, and I think we did that well,” Michael Bonds said. “We executed our game plan. We had a great season. I think 9-1 is a great year.”
Scott led all receivers with 85 yards on 6 catches, including the 25-yard score. Scott now has a team-best 9 receiving touchdowns. He also has one more on special teams and another on the ground for 11 total.
“I think it’s huge, especially heading into the playoffs and trying to get the momentum back from that sour-tasting loss last week,” Scott said. “Jace and Elijah ran really hard today. Michael did a great job, and the line did a good job. We’re confident heading into the playoffs.”
Jace Harrick and Elijah Washington also bounced back in a big way.
The Golden Knights’ rushing duo had a combined 39 yards rushing in last week’s loss.
But on Friday, Harrick and Washington did what they do best, and have done in 9 of 10 games this season.
They combined for 201 yards rushing and two touchdowns.
Harrick dropped his shoulder (and helmet) and was laying the wood to St. Paul defenders with punishing run after run.
The senior finished with 120 yards on 17 carries, including a 1-yard TD in the third quarter.
“Our offensive line balled out tonight, and did a great job in blocking up front, and opened up holes for the passing and running game,” Harrick said. “We came out this week in practice to get that sour taste out of our mouth, and we did a good job executing.”
Washington rushed for 81 yards on 14 carries, and the junior scored on a 6-yard run to give St. Francis some breathing room at 24-14 late in the second quarter.
“I felt like the coaches prepared us well for the St. Paul defense,” Washington said. “Our scheme was great, and Jace and I got the running game back up and the line helped us with that. Our line was much more sound than last week. We had to prove (this week) that our running game was still up there and that we could move the ball on the ground.”
Greg Dulcich caught 4 passes for 65 yards and the score.
Dulles Hanula’s name might not be familiar to all, but he continued to frustrate opposing teams on Friday.
Not only did Hanula boot a 42-yard field goal, he sent almost every kickoff to the end zone, so St. Paul had to start most drives on the 20-yard line.
The one blip on the map for the St. Francis special teams was Gabriel Bermudez’s 96-yard kickoff return for a score.
Nick Reddick had a 10-yard scoring run for St. Paul, and Anthony Lemos caught an early 29-yard TD pass on a trick play from Alfredo Reyes.
All things considered (coming back after a disappointing loss, winning another road game and heading into the playoffs 9-1) coach Jim Bonds has to be happy after seeing his program battle their butts off for 48 minutes.
“I thought we were hitting on most things we wanted to do,” Jim Bonds said. “We scored on six of our seven drives. Our running backs ran hard. Jace, especially in the second half ran hard, and has great vision and ball security. Everybody was down in the dumps, myself included, not only because of the loss, but how we lost. We felt we had something stolen from us, and to nobody’s fault but our own. So, the way we bounced back tonight was
outstanding.”
** Please check back Saturday for video highlights and interviews.
Box Score:
St. Francis 7-17-7-7-(38)
St. Paul 7-7-7-0-(21)
Scoring:
SF: Michael Bonds 1 run (Dulles Hanula kick)
SP: Anthony Lemos 29 pass from Alfredo Reyes (Gerek Melendrez kick)
SF: Greg Dulcich 10 pass from Michael Bonds (Dulles Hanula kick)
SF: Dulles Hanula 42 Field Goal
SP: Gabriel Bermudez 96 kickoff return (Gerek Melendrez kick)
SF: Elijah Washington 6 run (Dulles Hanula kick)
SP: Nick Reddick 10 run (Gerek Melendrez kick)
SF: Jace Harrick 1 run (Dulles Hanula kick)
SF: Daniel Scott 25 pass from Michael Bonds (Dulles Hanula kick)
Final Angelus League Standings:
Cathedral (10-0 overall, 5-0 in league)
St. Francis (9-1, 4-1)
Salesian (6-4, 2-3)
La Salle (6-4, 2-3)
St. Paul (4-6, 2-3)
Harvard-Westlake (3-7, 0-5)
** Angelus League Note:
A coin toss was needed to decide the 3-way tie for third place in league and for playoff pairings that comes out Sunday.
St. Paul won the coin toss and will go into the Angelus League’s third and final “automatic” bid, and Salesian will finish fourth, and La Salle fifth.
Both Salesian and La Salle will need an at-large bid to get in, but with its 6-4 record, and the league it plays in, La Salle should get a spot in the Division 9 bracket.
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