By Alex A. Gonzalez
La Canada – In the opening round of the Division 6 CIF-SS playoffs, the St. Francis Golden Knights made it look easy Friday night, beating the Valley View Eagles 46-22 at Friedman Field. Mason Maddox led St. Francis with eight catches for 152 yards and two touchdowns, and Vito Schiada completed 17-21 passes for 257 yards and threw three touchdowns.
“You know it feels great. This is an amazing feeling, you know,” said Maddox postgame. “A lot of people look down on us and we were able to come out here and show them who we are.”
It didn’t take long for St. Francis (6-5, 3-2 Angelus) to find their offensive groove on the windy night. On the opening drive, Sincere Pitts and Hudson Taoatao did most of the damage on the ground, with the two combining for 61 yards rushing on the 8-play drive that was capped off by Pitts 1-yard rushing score at the 3:42 mark of the first quarter.
Valley View (7-4, 3-2 Sunbelt) did, however, tie the ball game on their ensuing possession thanks to Robert Dunlap Jr. hooking up with Dominic DeBois for 41 yards and Kaden Cooper, who capped the 71-yard drive by hauling in a receiver screen pass. He bounced off a Golden Knight tackler and scored from 32 yards out.
St. Francis then responded by scoring 18 straight points in an eight-minute span, igniting the offensive onslaught.
After the Eagle touchdown that tied the game with 1:12 left in the first quarter, the Knights punched back with Schiada airing it out to Maddox and Hunter Bendis for 27, 18, and 15 yards on the drive, with Pitts capping it with his second rushing touchdown of the night.
Then, after Frank Preciado picked off Dunlap’s pass on the next drive, Schiada and Maddox connected for a 20-yard TD, extending their lead to 22-7 after a successful 2-point try. The Knights then added Nikolas Mansourian’s 26-yard field goal before the intermission whistle.
St. Franks continued its aggression at the start of the third quarter, needing only four plays to balloon the score to 39-7. Schiada connected with Maddox for a 70-yard strike and then on their next series, Schiada tossed his third touchdown of the night when he found a wide-open Isaiah Harris for 60 yards with 9:26 left in the third quarter.
Valley View finally reached the end zone midway through the quarter after Dunlap connected with Copper for the second time, making it 39-14.
The Knights responded with a 1-play touchdown, thanks to Matthew Moore, to take a 32-point lead just before the third quarter ended.
Bobby Greer cut into the Knights’ lead with a 9-yard touchdown run, but special teams failed to recover the onside kick, and St. Francis chewed up the clock with their ground game.
Valley View tried to go on the quick before the game’s end, but Maddox stopped it with a one-hand interception, sealing the win for the Golden Knights.
With the win, St. Francis will host Calabasas in the Quarterfinals of the Division 6 CIF-SS playoffs next Friday night.
St. Francis Starting O-Line
LT Keith Mills
LG Micah Mapp
C Jacob Raiche
RG Jayden Briseno
RT Jimmy O’Neill
Valley View Starting O-Line
LT Derann Rice
LG Sergio Gonzalez
C Matthew Castro
RG Alexis Martinez
RT 58
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