Serra had a 24-point halftime lead and a lot of smiles.
Things were going so well for the Cavaliers that their left tackle, a guy nicknamed "Shrek," was out on the track being named homecoming king.
Coach Scott Altenberg was hardly in a frolicking mood, however.
With almost eight minutes left, the Cavaliers' lead had dwindled to a touchdown and they weren't out of the woods until Anterio Bateman's 26-yard touchdown run in the final minute sealed a 44-30 Mission League victory over visiting St. Francis Friday night.
"I'm looking at the faces and going `Oh, God, OK, this could be a problem,' because I know how good a football team St. Francis is," Altenberg said. "In a way, other than the heart medicine I'm going to take now, it might really help us in the end to really understand."
Bateman rushed for 176 yards and scored three touchdowns and Serra (5-2, 2-0) took advantage of three miscues by St. Francis (6-1, 1-1) in the second period to build a 31-7 lead.
"We had a great first half of football and I thought offensively we played pretty well all along," Altenberg said. "Defensively we were short, we have some people missing and it really factored into our secondary.
"We were all over the place and St. Francis figured that out. We were playing with smoke and mirrors there for a while."
Quarterback Jared Lebowitz passed for 251 yards and three touchdowns and receiver Christian Hess caught scoring passes of 31 and 30 yards in the second half to help the Golden Knights.
Serra nearly handed the game away when a handoff exchange turned into a fumble that St. Francis recovered with 3:42 left. But Olajuwon Tucker and Simon Barron combined to sack Lebowitz for a 10-yard loss, effectively ending that drive.
On Serra's final drive, Bateman rushed five times for 53 yards.
"I think our guys were worn out," St. Francis coach Jim Bonds said. "Our D-line was getting pushed back. ... Up front, our guys in the trenches were worn out."
The teams traded touchdowns in the first quarter, but Serra answered St. Francis' score with quarterback Jalen Greene's 68-yard touchdown run to break the tie.
Bateman's 2-yard run after Serra recovered a fumbled punt return made it 21-7, then the Cavaliers scored 10 points in the final 16 seconds of the second period.
The first came on a 40-yard pass from Greene to Raymond Ford, then Serra's Malik Roberson jarred the ball loose on Hess' kickoff return. Gregory Webb recovered, setting up Eddie Garcia's 28-yard field goal and Serra had a 31-7 lead.
Lebowitz's 40-yard pass to Travis Talianko on the first play of the second set up a 3-yard touchdown run by Austin De Los Santos to make it 31-14.
Serra came back with Bateman's 27-yard scoring run up the middle, but it took St.Francis less than two minutes to answer with Lebowitz's 31-yard strike to Hess.
The two-point conversion made it 38-22, and the Golden Knights came back with Lebowitz's 30-yard scoring pass to Hess and another two-point conversion to make it 38-30.
"I know this league is awesome from top to bottom," Altenberg said. "We know how tough it's going to be week to week, and now we know how tough it's going to be half to half."
Greene, a sophomore left-hander, completed eight of 17 passes for 118 yards and also ran 10 times for 80 yards. Serra compiled 294 rushing yards, which included Marques Rodgers' 43-yard scoring run a fly sweep in the first quarter.
Things were going so well for the Cavaliers that their left tackle, a guy nicknamed "Shrek," was out on the track being named homecoming king.
Coach Scott Altenberg was hardly in a frolicking mood, however.
With almost eight minutes left, the Cavaliers' lead had dwindled to a touchdown and they weren't out of the woods until Anterio Bateman's 26-yard touchdown run in the final minute sealed a 44-30 Mission League victory over visiting St. Francis Friday night.
"I'm looking at the faces and going `Oh, God, OK, this could be a problem,' because I know how good a football team St. Francis is," Altenberg said. "In a way, other than the heart medicine I'm going to take now, it might really help us in the end to really understand."
Bateman rushed for 176 yards and scored three touchdowns and Serra (5-2, 2-0) took advantage of three miscues by St. Francis (6-1, 1-1) in the second period to build a 31-7 lead.
"We had a great first half of football and I thought offensively we played pretty well all along," Altenberg said. "Defensively we were short, we have some people missing and it really factored into our secondary.
"We were all over the place and St. Francis figured that out. We were playing with smoke and mirrors there for a while."
Quarterback Jared Lebowitz passed for 251 yards and three touchdowns and receiver Christian Hess caught scoring passes of 31 and 30 yards in the second half to help the Golden Knights.
Serra nearly handed the game away when a handoff exchange turned into a fumble that St. Francis recovered with 3:42 left. But Olajuwon Tucker and Simon Barron combined to sack Lebowitz for a 10-yard loss, effectively ending that drive.
On Serra's final drive, Bateman rushed five times for 53 yards.
"I think our guys were worn out," St. Francis coach Jim Bonds said. "Our D-line was getting pushed back. ... Up front, our guys in the trenches were worn out."
The teams traded touchdowns in the first quarter, but Serra answered St. Francis' score with quarterback Jalen Greene's 68-yard touchdown run to break the tie.
Bateman's 2-yard run after Serra recovered a fumbled punt return made it 21-7, then the Cavaliers scored 10 points in the final 16 seconds of the second period.
The first came on a 40-yard pass from Greene to Raymond Ford, then Serra's Malik Roberson jarred the ball loose on Hess' kickoff return. Gregory Webb recovered, setting up Eddie Garcia's 28-yard field goal and Serra had a 31-7 lead.
Lebowitz's 40-yard pass to Travis Talianko on the first play of the second set up a 3-yard touchdown run by Austin De Los Santos to make it 31-14.
Serra came back with Bateman's 27-yard scoring run up the middle, but it took St.Francis less than two minutes to answer with Lebowitz's 31-yard strike to Hess.
The two-point conversion made it 38-22, and the Golden Knights came back with Lebowitz's 30-yard scoring pass to Hess and another two-point conversion to make it 38-30.
"I know this league is awesome from top to bottom," Altenberg said. "We know how tough it's going to be week to week, and now we know how tough it's going to be half to half."
Greene, a sophomore left-hander, completed eight of 17 passes for 118 yards and also ran 10 times for 80 yards. Serra compiled 294 rushing yards, which included Marques Rodgers' 43-yard scoring run a fly sweep in the first quarter.
http://www.dailybreeze.com/preps/ci_19170732
Source: By Phil Collin, Staff Writer, Daily Breeze