Darius Perrantes threw for 245 yards and a touchdown in the first half for St. Francis
By Tim Peterson
(La Canada) – St. Francis jumped out to a 42-7 halftime lead and rolled to a 49-20 win over La Serna Friday night at Friedman Field.
Darius Perrantes only played one half but completed 8 of 12 for 245 yards and a touchdown. He also ran for a pair of scores before taking a seat in the second half. The Golden Knghts had several weapons that La Serna was unable to contain. Greg Dulcich caught three passes for 106 yards and Blake Howard hauled in two receptions for 61 yards and a touchdown.
Bobby Gazmarian got things going for St. Francis on the defensive side of the ball. On La Serna’s first possession he stepped in front of a Ben Orona pass and rumbled 20 yards for a touchdown for a quick 7-0 lead.
After the defense held La Serna again on the next series, Perrantes hit Howard on a 45-yard pass play down to the one – yard line. On the next play Kevin Armstead went in for the score for a two touchdown advantage.
On the following possession St. Francis marched 70 yards on nine plays with Elijah Washington finishing it with a 15-yard run with 1:41 left in the first quarter.
Early in the second quarter, Perrantes hit on another big pass play as he hit Dulcich for 47 yards who raced down to the seven-yard line before finally being dragged down. After a penalty Washington picked up his second of the night on a three-yard run.
Meanwhile the La Serna offense was unable to move the chains. Gazmarian picked off another pass and St. Francis capitalized. Perrantes scored on a two-yard run to cap a drive and later he fired a 16-yard TD strike to Howard to make it 42-0 and with 1:15 left in the half everything had been decided except the final score.
La Serna showed signs of life piecing together a 58-yard drive at the end of the half. Orona found Fonzie Ibanez in the end zone for a 21-yard touchdown pass and it was 42-7 at the break.
The second half consisted of the Golden Knights emptying their bench and a running clock in the fourth quarter. Armstead scored on a four-yard run early in the third quarter.
The Lancers scored twice in the fourth including a nine -yard TD pass from Andrew Henriquez to Calvin Salcido with no time remaining on the clock to make it 49-20.
With the victory St. Francis remained unbeaten improving to 3-0. La Serna fell to 2-2 and will open Del Rio League play October 6 at Santa Fe.
Always an LS Parent,
Coach Beltran went 8-4 his first year then 10-2 his second. Never mentioned records. Bosco and Mater Dei always have problems with that Catholic school up North, check there roster out…compare it to the Bosco’s and Mater Dei’s. I agree with a lot of what your saying and yes I was at the La Mirada game and St. Francis game of years past and neither should have been losses! I will not blame coaches nor kids for that, both La Mirada and St. Francs are well coached football teams. But…again you make my point.
@The Ranch- Thanks for the pat on the back.
@HSFan- Yes, your last sentence was kinda the point of my entire post.
Yeah, going to have to disagree again. Size and speed, in football, sure as heck does matter. That’s just the reality of high school ball these days and the yearly placement of playoff divisions makes it even more apparent to teams on opposite ends of the division poles. But I sense you’re using it to describe that intangible you believe the team is missing. That Westlake victory was a good one a couple years back, no doubt. Did you see LS against La Mirada last year? Losing on a last second kick to a team stocked with college talent. Great heart and effort by our boys. The 23 point 4th quarter comeback against Mira Costa? How about the late loss to St. Francis last season? Another example. I see them as examples of the heart these boys have, what they have achieved under the new coaching staff and what to expect in years to come. As shown by that loss to West Covina 5 or so years ago, that “intangible” won’t always make a difference over size and speed. Darn, if size and speed didn’t matter St. John Bosco and Mater Dei wouldn’t be bringing in fast, massive ballers from all over SoCal ;).
You preach patience to the Bell Gardens fans because Beltran had a rough start last season but you point out he started 2-8 at LS before his success. Well, Andy George started his FIRST season last year at 9-4 with a final second-round loss to the #1 seed in Div 3. Might he also be on that path to success, just going by his first season?
Whatever this season brings I plan to cheer on these fine young men for as many seasons as I can drag myself to. Gotta get ready to beat the Titans tomorrow! Go Lancers!
@Always: I was blessed with athletic sons that grew large thanks to their mothers genetics. They got my crooked teeth. As I followed their exploits I always enjoyed it more when our teams were the underdogs. The wins seemed more bright and the expected losses less gloomy. And when you are an underdog the pressure seems less intense especially on mom and pop. You don’t need a top 10 or even top 20 team to thoroughly relish the high school football experience. I followed Pomona last week and sat on the visitors side when they played El Rancho. Great hard fought game that Pomona won in overtime. In Pomona’s stands I counted literally a very small handful of supporters scattered in the empty bleachers. No cheerleaders, no students, just us zombies. In such an environment you don’t even cheer because your own voice echo’s back in your face. Point is, please support your boys and their hard work no matter what.
@Always an LS parent,
Spot on and classy post.
You make valid points, that West Covina team was great. Scored 84 on La Serna and scored sixty something on La Mirada the week before. St. Francis is a very good program, well coached and has athletes but like I stated in my post…size, speed or Division did not matter in the past. You are making my point. You left off Westlake High School…why leave them off your list of teams played in the past, probably because La Serna beat them both years.
Whoo. Lots of gloom after one very tough loss to one very talented team. Was the loss because of the missing “Beltran glow?” Hardly. LS just got pushed around by a much larger and talented football team. The boys played tough and gave it their best effort (at least what they could muster that night), but IMHO this loss was not grounds to stay away from future games. D-3, where LS now finds themselves, is no friggin’ joke, and they ran into a legit D-3 contender. Beltran’s teams where great, but that was the old Southeast division. There are no Paramounts, West Cos and Downeys to be chomped on come playoff times these years. Remember that West Co championship loss a few years ago? Did y0u stop going to games after that? Spare me the “end of the world is near” lameness. Loyalty to a school, a program, and a player, far out-trumps loyalty to one particular coach. Kudos to all the parents and alums who will stick by your teams through the bad times, when character is revealed, as opposed to just the good, when the bandwagon is full. Good game Knights. Go Lancers!!
It was said that the program would slowly fall from grace with the removal of Coach Beltran and there were people that believed that (the parents and fans that were their while Coach Beltran was the coach) and those that did not believe it (the parents and fans that are their now). It is sadly obvious that this is not the same program it once was, something is missing. I am not involved in the everyday process but it is clear that something is not there that once was. Whether it is the kids believing they can play anyone anywhere or that there is no one that outworks them. I don’t know, but my boys that played for Coach Beltran would preach these things. There was an attitude that they carried themselves with (and still do), I have gone to three or four games a year since my last one graduated, the St. Francis game will be my last I believe. It was obvious to the group I went with that it is not the same program our kids went thru. I wish nothing but the best to the La Serna Lancers and for the people that come on here talking crap about this post I wish you would’ve seen the machine in its hay day (2010 – 2013) from the Semi-Final loss to Bonita to the Championship win against Norwalk. It was truly a show! And to the people that come on here talking crap about Bell Gardens, Coach Beltran/La Serna went 2-8 prior to going on their run…I am sure the people at Bell Gardens are happy/excited about what Coach Beltran is building.
@anonymous
Funny how you use anon grow a pair! Good luck winning a playoff game!
We thank you for not allowing him back. As La Serna’s culture slowly changes for the worst our culture is slowly changing for the better.
Beltran is no longer welcome in the Lancers football program, but from the looks of last night’s drubbing at the hands of St. Francis, it looks like mediocrity is being welcomed back with open arms.