Bellarmine-Jefferson football can’t sustain strong start in loss to Lone Pine

BURBANK — Bellarmine-Jefferson High’s football team went into its nonleague game Saturday afternoon against Lone Pine with aspirations of an at-large berth, as far as the CIF Southern Section eight-man Division II playoffs were concerned.

However, to stay in the postseason running, the Guards needed a victory against the Golden Eagles.

Early on, Bell-Jeff looked like it was on its way to achieving that goal, as it enjoyed a lead in the first quarter. But the Guards couldn’t maintain that advantage, giving up big plays and points in bunches to Lone Pine, which rallied to a 64-30 victory at Memorial Field.

The loss put the Guards at 2-4 on the season and 2-2 in Division II play with two games remaining.

“It’s all about making strides for us and we’ve made some incredible strides,” said Bell-Jeff Coach Fred Martinez, whose squad lost to Lone Pine last season, 55-0. “We couldn’t even fathom that we would have a shot to be in the playoffs and to go into this game with just three games left and to still be taking about the playoffs is a big accomplishment for us.

“If we would have won today, we probably would have gone into next week’s game with Hillcrest Christian in an elimination game for the playoffs. But we fell short today and are out of the playoff picture.”

The Guards started off well against Lone Pine (3-5). Bell-Jeff scored on its opening possession, as the eight-play drive culminated with a four-yard pass from freshman quarterback Rameon Witt to junior Paulius Kasteckas. The two also hooked up on the two-point conversion to put the Guards in front, 8-0, with 8:22 remaining in the first quarter.

Following a Golden Eagles touchdown, the Guards scored on a 47-yard touchdown run by Tomas Butkus (seven carries for 67 yards and two touchdowns) with 3:28 left in the opening quarter and enjoyed a 16-8 advantage.

Unfortunately for the Guards, Butkus was injured in the third quarter and never returned.

Although Lone Pine scored before the end of the first quarter, Bell-Jeff still went into the first break with a 16-14 lead.

The second quarter proved to be a big one for the Golden Eagles, as they outscored the Guards, 24-6, and went into halftime with a 38-22 lead.

“We started pretty good, but after that, I don’t know what happened,” said Kasteckas, who had 16 carries for 127 yards and one touchdown rushing and four catches for 28 yards and a touchdown. “I don’t know if we just broke down mentally or what. But our team is young and that might have had something to do with that. We have only one senior playing and only a few juniors, so we are very young.”

Lone Pine, led by junior quarterback Dylan Noland (seven of nine passing for 177 yards and four touchdowns) and senior running back Brian Lopez (13 carries for 105 yards and one touchdown) continued to pour it on in the third quarter. When the Golden Eagles scored with 1:14 left in the stanza, they had outscored the Guards, 50-6, since midway through the opening quarter.

“We thought that the way this game began it was going to be a shootout,” Martinez said. “But then things just weren’t clicking for us. [Lone Pine] is a very polished football team, as you saw today, and they just didn’t make very many mistakes.

“But what really hurt is when Tomas got injured and we pulled him out. We really lose a lot when he’s not in there.”

After three quarters, Lone Pine led, 58-22. The Guards did win the fourth quarter, 8-6, which was played with a running clock.

Witt ended the day six of 10 for 71 yards and one touchdown.