Burroughs, St. Francis football collide in CIF quarterfinals

It’s been more than half a decade since the Burroughs High and St. Francis football teams lined up across from each other.

An annual nonleague meeting for nearly a decade, the Golden Knights and Indians never had as much riding on a game as the teams will come Friday at Friedman Field at 7.

At stake is a trip to the CIF Southern Section Southeast Division semifinals, as the fourth-seeded Indians (10-1) travel to take on the Golden Knights (8-3).

“It’s a rivarly-type game,” said Indians Coach Keith Knoop, whose team won the Pacific League title before beating Norwalk, 16-9, for the program’s first postseason win since 2010. “They’re close to us, just over there in La Cañada.

“When we did play it was always a challenge. … It was always a battle.”

St. Francis, which finished third in the Angelus League, opened up the postseason on the road, defeating Warren, 21-19, to make its third consecutive quarterfinal appearance.

From 2002 through 2009, the Golden Knights and Indians played every season, with St. Francis emerging with a win all eight times, though four games were decided by seven points or less, including a span between 2005-07 when Burroughs lost by three, three and seven points, respectively. Alas, that was a while ago, and all that remains the same is the coaches who have maintained the programs with consistent success.

“The familiarity is that coach Knoop is still there and I’m still here at St. Francis and we have the same coaching staff, primarily,” Golden Knights Coach Jim Bonds said. “As for the players, there’s not really any familiarity. It’s pretty much starting fresh.”

But at this point of the season, nobody’s all that fresh.

And the biggest question going into the game is the health of Burroughs running back Chance Bell, who suffered a leg injury on the first play of Friday’s first-round win over Norwalk.

“Right now, he’s out,” Knoop said Monday evening.

Bell, a reigning All-Area pick, has been phenomenal in his junior season, carrying 178 times for 1,378 yards with 23 touchdowns. He’s rushed for better than 100 yards in nine of 11 games, the only exceptions coming against Norwalk and two games prior against Crescenta Valley, as he was injured in both contests.

“We’re gonna prepare like he’s play ready and he’s gonna play,” Bonds said. “Hopefully he does. He’s dynamic and he’s a real threat.

“It’s definitely more challenging, but that’s what you should see in the playoffs.”

In contrast, St. Francis just recently welcomed back its All-Area running back, as Areg Nazarian (150 carries for 759 yards and six touchdowns) returned to the lineup in the regular season finale against La Salle and truly returned to form with 111 yards rushing in 23 carries against Warren.

“He makes big plays and it takes a lot of pressure off me,” said St. Francis quarterback Miles Bryant, who’s completed 116 of 179 passes (64%) for 1,571 yards and 14 touchdowns passes, while adding four scores on the ground. “Having him back is huge.”

One similarity between the teams is at quarterback, as neither Bryant nor Burroughs’ Steven Hubbell was a starter last season.

Bryant backed up Jeremiah Martin all season before Martin went down in the first round of the playoffs. Thus, on Friday, Bryant will return to the quarterfinals 364 days to the date he made his starting debut, playing admirably in a loss that ended St. Francis’ 2014 season against La Serna. He completed 12 of 17 passes for 267 yards with four touchdowns to one interception.

“I think I’m a lot more mature and I think I’m a lot better player than I was in 2014,” Bryant said. “But my main goal is to help the team win and it’d be great to get to the next round.”

Hubbell did not play all of the 2014 season, electing to concentrate on basketball. He’s made a triumphant return to the tune of 1,696 yards passing (125 completions in 189 attempts for a 66 completion percentage) for 27 touchdown passes along with six rushing scores.

Hubbell’s aware there’s a bit more pressure on his shoulders in Bell’s absence, but believes others, such as receivers Erick Hernandez (32 catches fro 511 yards and 13 touchdowns) and Cade Boreland (32 catches for 405 yards and four touchdowns) and running back Ash Hawkins (252 yards rushing) will accommodate the challenge.

“It definitely changes a big part of our offense, but I think we have people that can step up,” Hubbell said.

Defense will also be at the forefront as it has all season for the Indians, who have allowed more than 20 points just three times.

“We’ve got to continue to play great defense,” Knoop said. “They’re definitely a lot more dynamic on offense than a lot of teams we’ve seen because they can run and pass. They have a lot of options on offense like we do.”

Knoop’s defense, led by the likes of Evan Gurley (59 tackles, 10 sacks) and Jaret Wrobel (45 tackles, five interceptions), is allowed just 15 points per game.

St. Francis’ defense has been comparatively stingy to the tune of 20 points per game against somewhat loftier competition; at least in league play (all three Angelus League representatives are still alive in the tournament). The Golden Knights have been keyed by Maxx Jakeway (101 tackles) and Sean Davitt (61 tackles, 16 sacks).

The one common opponent the teams have is Calabasas, which is the top seed in the Western Division. Burroughs opened the season with a loss to the Coyotes, 45-25, while St. Francis suffered its worst loss in years against Calabasas, 34-0. Since its loss, the Indians haven’t suffered defeat again, running off 10 straight victories.

“We definitely improved after week one,” Hubbell. “We definitely have a little more swagger. We just want to keep the momentum going and hopefully have another game to play next week.”

St. Francis went the other way, struggling to a three-game losing streak before defeating Cathedral to keep its season alive and start a current four-game winning streak.

“I think we knew that one win could turn that corner and I think that’s what we saw against Cathedral and we realized we could beat anybody on any given night,” Bonds said.

The winner of Friday’s showdown will advance to the semifinals to play top-seeded La Serna (9-2) or Harvard-Westlake (8-3), which shared the Angelus League title and defeated St. Francis on a Hail Mary. On the other side of the bracket, third-seeded Cathedral (10-1), the other half of the Angelus League co-champions, takes on Downey (7-4), last season’s runner-up, in a quarterfinal rematch from a season prior. And, finally, second-seed La Mirada (8-3) travels to play Dominguez (8-3), which shared the San Gabriel Valley League title with Warren and Downey and defeated Burbank in the first round.

For now, however, all that matters is Friday at Friedman Field.

Said Knoop: “I’m hoping it’s going to be an epic game.”

--

Grant Gordon, grant.gordon@latimes.com

Twitter: @TCNGrantGordon