Bellarmine-Jefferson football continues to fight through tough season
BURBANK — To say that Bellarmine-Jefferson High’s inaugural season playing eight-man football as the school looks to rebuild its program has been difficult would be an understatement, but the Guards play on.
“I love what I see because the sportsmanship, effort [and] integrity is all out there on the field,” Bell-Jeff Coach Fred Martinez said. “There is no shame in what we are trying to accomplish here. We are headed in the right direction, but we’re taking small steps.”
On Saturday afternoon, Bellarmine-Jefferson hosted Robert Fulton College Prep at Memorial Field, going down in defeat, 84-8. Although the results were not pretty for the hosts, the outmatched Guards played to the final whistle.
“We all played hard, fought to the end and didn’t give up,” Guard Christian Posis said. “That is what I like about my team.”
Deep into the second quarter, already trailing, 54-0, against Fulton (3-3), Posis received the Jaguars’ kickoff.
The senior captain took off toward the right sideline and turned on the afterburners. Several Jaguars looked like they would have an angle to knock him out of bounds, but Posis out sprinted them all, going 65 yards for the hosts’ only touchdown of the contest, which saw the clock run throughout the second half. The kickreturn touchdown with 3:26 left in the second quarter broke a streak of 10 quarters that Bellarmine-Jefferson (0-6) had gone without a point.
“Everyone just did their jobs,” Posis said of his return touchdown. “I just followed my blocks and took it to the house.”
Guards senior Nick Alejo then punched in the two-point conversion on the ground. The Jaguars would score again before the break, which saw the Los Angeles City Section visitors out of Van Nuys lead, 62-8.
The game started on a high note for Bell-Jeff when Guards kicker Phillippe Sahagun booted the opening kickoff into no-man’s land behind the first line of Fulton’s kick return team , allowing Alejo to fly to the ball and recover the onside try. However, the Guards botched a handoff on their first snap and Fulton recovered the fumble.
“What is frustrating is we had kids have a great practice week,” Martinez said. “Then in that opening stanza when we got the opening kickoff and recovered it, everything was going great and we just had a little snafu there and it kind of set the tone.”
Three plays later, Jaguar Adrian Garcia scored the first of his three rushing touchdowns on a 48-yard run emblematic of the rest of the contest, which saw the Guards struggle to bring down runners throughout.
David Van Dyke started at quarterback for Bell-Jeff and he completed his first pass of the game. The senior heaved the ball over the middle into the arms of Posis, who hauled it in for a 34-yard gain. However, Van Dyke’s next pass was intercepted to set up Garcia’s second score, this time from 25 yards out. The 34-yarder would turn out to be the only completion of the game for the Guards.
“What can I say? Christian Posis is my offensive MVP,” Martinez said. “Him and David Van Dyke have done a great job together.”
With 8:08 left in the second quarter, Van Dyke ran the ball toward the sideline, only to be plowed over by a Jaguar with a collision that would put both players out the rest of the game. Van Dyke stayed down on the turf for a couple minutes before being helped off. Posis took over at quarterback for the duration, but never attempted a throw.
“David is OK,” Martinez said. “We kept him out because we couldn’t get a good read on him.”
By the fourth quarter, the Jaguars had emptied the bench and moved players out of their natural positions. Of the two touchdowns scored in the fourth quarter, the first came on a three-yard run by little-used Air Force cadet Dylan Calte and the final touchdown was made by 14-year-old Ulises Lopez.
Although Saturday’s defeat was the final home game of the year for the Guards, Bell-Jeff has two more games to play on the road. The first will be Saturday at Flintridge Prep, taking on the Rebels’ junior varsity team at 11 a.m. The final game of the Guards’ first season in eight-man action will be on Halloween at Chadwick.
“We finish with Chadwick, which will be the first time in about three years we finish a football season,” Martinez, also the athletic director, said. “We are all excited about that.”