Golden Knights Fall in Semis at LA Valley College

The St. Francis might have lost in the semifinals to St. Bonaventure of the LA Valley College passing tournament, but afterward the Golden Knights truly saw the experience from Saturday as a moral victory.

“Playing in tournaments like these, its tough since we have a lot of two-way players,” coach Jim Bonds said. “These men played their hearts out all day long. Our only two losses were against a fine program in St. Bonaventure. But with the way things finished, I really like where we are at.”

Already a few weeks into their summer practices, the Knights used this passing tournament to unify their squad. They finished the afternoon going 3-2, with both their losses coming against St. Bonaventure. As fatigued played a factor throughout the day, Bonds and the rest of the squad were more than pleased with how things have been turning out, even if they didn’t walk away as potential champions.

“You can never really put a lot of emphasis on these tournaments,” Bonds said. “In reality, we don’t want to be the tournament champions year after year over the summer. It matters when fall comes around. We want to get better every time out. In the last three tournaments these guys have gotten better and better, and it’s nice to see. It always puts a smile on my face”

The Knights, who finished last year 6-5 and were eliminated in the first round of the CIF-Southern Section Western Division playoffs, have seen a lot of promise in a number of players with a very young roster. Leading the way this coming season will be Jared Lebowitz. Lebowitz, who transferred into the program from Vermont, has quickly picked up Bonds’s playing style and has slowly progressed. He finished the day with more than a handful touchdown passes combined with only two interceptions, which was by far his best performance of the summer.

“The day I stepped in, I was welcomed with open arms,” Lebowitz said. “The players and coaching staff have been very great to me. It’s hard to see that any other program would welcome me in that quickly, and it makes playing football here that much easier. This is especially how much better things are getting.”

Travis Talianko also hasn’t lost a step over the summer. Talianko, who led the team in touchdown receptions last year with 17, had a solid outing during the tournament. It had taken him a while to get used to Lebowitz and his throwing style, but a few games into the tournament eventually got him into rhythm.  He finished the day with six TDs, but there is always enough room for improvement.

“These tournaments have given me the chance to work with Lebowitz with our timing,” Talianko said. “A lot of the guys today took me away from my routes, but the team did step up. I have gotten a little slower, but it’s something that can be easily fixed. As long as we are winning, things can always go our way.”

St. Francis has one more week of practice until dead period begins, and it is filled with more competition. Tuesday they have a seven-on-seven battle with Harvard Westlake and possibly two other opponents, while next weekend they will participate in another two-day passing tournament in Claremont.