MidValleySports.Com

Aiden Williams and Bishop Diego have hurdled their way back to the Northwest semifinals. (Photo by Steven Mercado)

By Steven Mercado

(Duarte)- The Bishop Diego Cardinals put the pedal to the gridiron against the Duarte Falcons, producing 371 total rushing yards in their 41-7 rout Friday night at Falcon Field.

The Falcons’ season ends with a 7-5 record and the Cardinals improve to a 10-2. The Cardinals advance to the CIF Southern Section semifinals to face Nordhoff.

Senior RB/DE/DB Aidan Williams and junior RB/LB Abel Gonzalez each ran two touchdowns in for the Cardinals. All of the Cardinals’ six touchdowns came from running plays. Senior WR/LB/DE Thomas Lash and junior WR/LB Alexis Herrera scored the other two touchdowns as the game neared its final minutes.

The Falcons were held to 123 yards of total offense by the stifling Cardinals defense. Bishop Diego’s defensive unit shutout Duarte until just under the five-minute mark, senior ATH Sam Edwards stripped the ball from sophomore running back Alvoid Bennett at the goal line and ran it back 99 yards for the Falcons’ only score of the game.

***Bishop Diego senior QB/WR/DB Anthony Carter: 6-of-8 passing, 58 yards; 2 rushes, 29 yards; two interceptions that came on consecutive possessions and were within two minutes of each other (the first coming with six and a half minutes remaining in the third quarter).

***Cardinals’ Aidan Williams: six rushes for 86 yards, 2 TDs and 2 catches for 20 yards. The first 10-yard catch brought his team into the redzone during a drive that resulted in a touchdown and the second 10-yard catch brought his team to the goal line, which resulted in the first touchdown of the game.

***Cardinals’ Abel Gonzalez: 12 rushes for 85 yards, 2 TDs

***Alexis Herrera’s touchdown came off a reverse from five yards out. This is the sophomore’s first touchdown as a varsity football player.

***Duarte recovered a Bishop Diego fumble with 8:51 left to play in the first half, leading to a drive that brought them to their first goal-line opportunity in the game. A completion from junior quarterback Isaiah Scott to Sam Edwards resulted in a 1st-and-goal at the 1-yard line. The Bishop Diego defense forced them backwards, turning the ball over on downs at the 9-yard line.

***Duarte QB Isaiah Scott: 14-for-33 passing, 125 yards, 2 INTs; senior RB Jordan Johnson: 4 rushes for 2 yards; did not touch the ball in the second half as the Falcons avoided running the ball.

***Senior OL/DL Mitchell Oleson recorded two sacks, part of a defensive effort that pressured Scott all game.

***Bishop Diego HC Tom Crawford on the win: “The kids just kept on playing. I actually thought in the first half, we were a little bit sloppy with a few too many penalties. We had great field position when we stopped them at midfield, we had an opportunity to score and we put the ball on the ground the very next play. We made mistakes, but we were able to overcome them.”

***Bishop Diego’s starting offensive line: LT: Mitchell Oleson. LG: John Samson. C: Jack Braniff. RG: Joe Stevenson. RT: Joseph Salcedo.

***Duarte’s starting offensive line: LT: Lorenzo Rojas. LG: Angel Villanueva. C: Robert Hernandez. RG: David Perez. RT: Andrew Ramirez.

***The Cardinals faced Nordhoff, their semifinal opponents, on Nov. 1 this season. The score ended in a 20-17 victory for Nordhoff, giving Bishop Diego their second and final loss of the regular season. That game was the closest game the Cardinals played all year.

***Crawford on the successful running game: “We’ve got multiple guys who can run the ball. Our offensive line plays really consistent and their experience level allows them to sort thing out a little bit. Whenever a team creates a new front for us, those guys are smart enough to figure it out. It was a combination of runners running hard and the offensive line doing their job.”