The Bishop’s Knights — and former Park View Little League Blue Bomber star Bulla Graft — capped last season with a 19-16 overtime victory against the Mater Dei Catholic Crusaders in the Division IV San Diego Section championship game.
It was an exciting contest and one that the Crusaders led for most of the contest played at Southwestern College.
The teams experienced a role reversal in last Friday’s high profile non-league match-up at MDCHS as the host Crusaders ran over the defending division champion Knights with a 42-21 statement win.
Mater Dei Catholic rolled up 455 rushing yards and four rushing touchdowns and finished the contest with 495 total yards and five touchdowns.
“We were very excited with the way we played on Friday,” MDCHS head coach John Joyner explained. “Bishop’s is a great team and a great program that is always prepared and so well coached. When you can run the ball for more than 400 yards in a game you know you are playing physical and that is the way we want to play. We need to keep it going, the schedule stays tough with a very well coached Castle Park team this week.”
The victory raised the Crusaders’ season record to 5-1. The team had gotten off to what had been a 4-0 start before Mater Dei Catholic announced prior to last Friday’s game it had forfeited its 28-14 non-league win over visiting El Capitan on Sept. 4 due to using an ineligible player.
Junior C.J. Verdell rushed 21 times for 381 yards in a spectacular individual showcase on the gridiron. He scored three touchdowns, including one on an 80-yard breakaway run on the team’s first play of the game.
Junior quarterback Chris Jones completed two of four passing attempts for one touchdown and also rushed six times for 74 yards and one touchdown. Jones ripped off one 49-yard gain.
Eli Shelton caught a 38-yard scoring pass while Elias Eribez had three picks for 133 yards and scored on one interception return.
Junior Ruben Duran led the Crusader defense with 13 tackles while senior Jayden Emberton-Gaines made 12 stops and junior Kyle Moses had 10 tackles.
Overall, the MDCHS defense racked up five sacks and four interceptions. Austin Keller and Mario Williams each had two sacks while Duran had one sack. Jovan Bayless also had one interception while Moses had three pass deflections.
Alex Golembiewski was six-for-six on PAT conversions while Duran averaged 40.3 yards on three punts.
The Knights, who fell to 3-2 on the season, also produced their share of big plays in last Friday’s spotlight match-up.
Bishop’s sophomore quarterback Jeffrey Jackson (31 of 45, 389 passing yards) and classmate Mozes Mooney (15 catches, 191 yards) had a special connection in the game by combining for three touchdowns.
The Knights rushed 21 times for 93 yards. Senior A.J. Britanico led the visitors with 73 yards on 18 carries. Britanico also caught three passes for 86 yards and amassed 85 yards in kick returns to finish the game with 244 all-purpose yards.
Sophomore Jacob Jackson had five catches for 70 yards.
Britanico (79 yards) and Mooney (59 yards) each had one long distance catch in the game.
Junior Justin Woodley led the visitors defensively with nine tackles. He also had one of four sacks by Bishop’s defenders. Richard Hagestad and Daniel Anderson each had 1.5 sacks. Senior Bryan Gell also had one fumble recovery.
Next up
Mater Dei Catholic takes its road show to division rival Castle Park on Friday. The game kicks off at 7 p.m.
Castle Park is 3-2 on the season and is coming off last Friday’s 20-0 non-league shutout win at Clairemont (3-3).
Jones has completed 64.8 percent of his passes for 606 yards and eight touchdowns without an interception while Verdell has rushed for 890 yards and nine touchdowns. Shelton is averaging 30.6 yards per catch with three touchdowns on five pass receptions. Moses is averaging 24.2 yards per catch with two touchdowns on five catches; Quentin Frazier is averaging 20.4 yards per catch.
Bishop’s hosts Horizon Christian Academy (1-5) in the Coastal League opener for both teams on Saturday, Oct. 10, at 7 p.m.
Jeffrey Jackson has passed for 1,185 yards with 16 touchdowns and seven interceptions in five games for the Knights while Britanico has rushed for 590 yards and seven touchdowns. Mooney has 46 catches for 663 yards and 10 touchdowns.
There are several teams this season hovering near the top reaches of the Division IV standings. Southwest El Centro is 5-0, followed by Mater Dei Catholic, University City, Mar Vista and El Cajon Valley all with 4-1 records. Santana and Orange Glen are both 4-2 while Castle Park and Bishop’s are both 3-2.
Does last Friday’s win over the Knights make Crusaders the favorite to win the division this year? Joyner is taking a cautionary stance at this point.
“As for the playoffs, I’m not sure where it puts us as of now, but there is so much football left, a lot can change from now until then,” he said.
Castle Park 20, Clairemont 0
The Castle Park Trojans enter Friday’s non-league football game against visiting Mater Dei Catholic sporting a 3-2 record thanks to last Friday’s 20-0 win at Clairemont.
Clairemont was coming off a 62-21 non-league win the previous Friday against North Vancouver’s Handsworth (Canada). But the Trojans cooled off the Chiefs with another strong defensive effort and big plays in the passing department.
Miguel Flores scored on a two-yard run and quarterback Angelo Trujillo hit receiver Luq Barcoo on a pair of deep passes for touchdowns to brace the visitors’ strong offensive performance.
