Football: Golden Knights Show Their Might in Second Shutout

The football team posted its second shutout of the season on Friday in a 35-0 blowout victory over West Ranch of Valencia.  The visiting Wildcats (4-1) never had possession beyond midfield and totaled just 78 yards of offense against a suffocating Knights defense.

 “Our defense did an outstanding job,” said St. Francis coach Jim Bonds.  “We knew we had to stop their running game and pressure the quarterback.”

On the offensive end, was masterful.  He completed 10 of 20 passes for 168 yards and two touchdowns and ran for a third touchdown.

“This was Jared’s best game to date,” said Bonds.  “He’s getting used to the speed at which the game is played here in California.”

Lebowitz transferred to St. Francis from Vermont prior to the season.

The Knights punted on their first possession, but got the ball right back when West Ranch quarterback Garrit Mouw lost a fumble on the team’s third play at their own 39-yard line.

From there Lebowitz completed a 19-yard pass to Conor Nelson to move the ball into the red zone.  Senior Austin De Los Santos capped the drive by running right on a sweep and cutting back up the middle of the field into the end zone.

The Wildcats defense was able to slow Lebowitz and De Los Santos for a time and escaped the first quarter down just 7-0.

However, on the Knights’ first possession of the second quarter, receiver Christian Hess made up for an earlier dropped pass by making an acrobatic catch while in tight coverage near the sideline for a 27-yard gain.  The ball was downed at the two-yard line and Austin Finton finished the drive with a two-yard run.

“I have a lot of confidence in all of the receivers,” said Lebowitz.  “I know that if I make a bad throw, they will become a defender and knock the ball down.”

On St. Francis’ next possession, senior Travis Talianko got in on the action.  On first down at the Knights’ 43-yard line, Talianko ran a deep post-pattern and Lebowitz delivered a perfect pass.  Talianko made the catch and pushed his defender aside, breaking free for a 57-yard touchdown.

Leading 21-0, the Saints’ let the running game fuel their next drive.  Finton broke a 24-yard run to move the ball into the red zone and De Los Santos moved the ball to the 1-yard line.

Facing fourth down and goal at the one-yard line, Lebowitz kept the ball on a quarterback sneak and scored relatively easily.

“Every game the offensive line gets better,” said Lebowitz.  “It’s truly amazing because I know some of those guys are banged up and playing through injuries.”

St. Francis took a 28-0 lead into halftime and West Ranch’s schematic adjustments went unrewarded in the second half.  Mouw was sacked six times in the game, twice by the Knights’ Tyler Marona.

Running back Jeff Coprich played a large part in the Wildcats’ success entering the contest, but totaled just 45 yards against the Knights’’ defensive wall.  Coprich routinely broke the line of scrimmage, but found all his running lanes blocked.

“We knew we had to contain (Coprich) because he has big-play ability,” said Bonds.

Lebowitz added another touchdown on the teams’ first drive of the second half.  After a poor punt gave the Knights excellent field position, Lebowitz connected with Jeff Garavaglia on a corner-route, threading two defenders for an 18-yard touchdown.

Lebowitz gave way to backup quarterback Forrest Ascarrunz following the score, as did a majority of the St. Francis starters.  The only letdown for the Saints came late in the third quarter when Mark Verso missed an unlikely 54-yard field goal attempt by mere inches.  Verso kicked a touchback on all six of the Knights’ kickoffs.

St. Francis will host Paso Robles next week.  The team will host Harvard-Westlake in the Mission League opener the following week.

Scoring Summary

West Ranch                0          0          0          0          -           0

St. Francis                   7          21       7          0          -           35

Quarter One

6:57    SF: De Los Santos 7 run (McCreary kick)

Quarter Two

8:04    SF: Finton 2 run (McCreary kick)

5:02    SF: Talianko 57 pass from Lebowitz (McCreary kick)

1:12    SF: Lebowitz 1 run (McCreary kick)

Quarter 3

8:19    SF: Garavaglia 18 pass from Lebowitz (McCreary kick)

Quarter 4

No Score

Game Statistics

Passing – SF: Lebowitz (10-20-168, 2 TD); WR: Mouw (2-14-19).  Rushing – SF: De Los Santos (17-92, TD), Finton (5-35, TD), Lebowitz (3-10, TD); WR: Coprich (13-45).  Receiving – SF: Talianko (3-65, TD), Hess (2-39, TD), Garavaglia (1-18, TD); WR: Hillo (1-13).