St. Francis football holds on for wild win over Mayfair
LA MIRADA — A seven-touchdown effort from the St. Francis High football team proved just enough as the Golden Knights held off host Mayfair, 51-41, at La Mirada High in a nonleague contest that more closely resembled a pinball game.
Golden Knights quarterback Darius Perrantes completed 11 of 21 passes for 247 yards and five touchdowns with two interceptions, while rushing nine times for 66 yards and another score.
Running back Kevin Armstead also contributed 21 carries for 107 yards and one touchdown for St. Francis (4-2), which will close the nonleague season next Friday.
Those efforts were needed to overcome a pair of spectacular performances from a pair of Mayfair (5-2) players.
Senior receiver Chris Adimora, who verbally committed to the University of Texas, turned in a monster game with nine receptions for 312 yards and three touchdowns. Those stats bolstered a huge game for Monsoons quarterback Joshua Calvin, who finished 13 of 25 for 413 yards and three touchdowns.
Nine of Calvin’s completions were for at least 23 yards.
“As a coach, these games are not easy on the heart,” St. Francis coach Jim Bonds said. “These two-, three-play drives were too quick for both sides. I’m just glad we were able to get on top.”
The game wasn’t settled until Perrantes hit receiver Bryson Reeves (four catches for 138 yards and two touchdowns) on a 17-yard touchdown with 11 seconds left to give St. Francis a 51-41 lead.
Perrantes connected on touchdown passes for 72, 14, 36 and nine yards to Reeves, Armstead, Tanner Tomko and Jacob Buntich respectively.
St. Francis took its biggest lead of 44-27 with 11:51 left in the contest when Perrantes hit Tomko on the 36-yard score off a fourth and six in which the senior quarterback rolled right and threw across field to a wide-open Tomko.
On Mayfair’s first play of its next possession, however, the Monsoons once again showcased their big-play ability when a five-yard out from Calvin to Adimora turned into a 80-yard scoring pass play as the receiver broke a series of hand tackles and scored.
After Mayfair’s Carl Conston intercepted Perrantes for the second time in the game in the red zone with 7:03 left, the Monsoons closed to within 44-41 on a seven-yard touchdown from running back Tstrong Mataele with 3:14 left.
The touchdown was the final for Mataele, who carried 16 times for 99 yards and three touchdowns.
Mayfair attempted an onside kick, but the ball was recovered by St. Francis at the 50.
The Golden Knights had a chance to nearly run the clock out, but instead opted for the 17-yard touchdown from Perrantes to Reeves with 11 seconds left.
After falling behind, 14-10, after one quarter, St. Francis won the second frame, 21-13, to take a 31-27 lead into the break. St. Francis led, 38-27, after three.
“It was a really good football game and St. Francis made a couple of more plays than we did,” Mayfair coach Derek Bedell said. “It’s fun to coach against my Alma Mater and we just missed a close win.”
