St. Francis turns things around to defeat Saugus
SANTA CLARITA — A shaky start by the St. Francis High football team led to an early deficit Friday night against Saugus.
To add to their struggles, the Golden Knights lost starting quarterback Darius Perrantes to a back injury early in the second quarter.
Though St. Francis suffered its share of early woes, it was able to bounce back.
The Golden Knights scored 33 straight points against the Centurions and were able to complete the comeback, 49-20, in a nonleague contest at College of the Canyons.
“We didn’t have a great week of practices and we kind of came out and played like we practiced,” St. Francis coach Jim Bonds said. “We were just fortunate to be where we were in the first half because it could have been worse.
“Our defense got us a few key turnovers and we were able to get a touchdown right before half and that was able to give us some momentum. But you could have fooled me, even when we were up, it didn’t feel like we were up.”
The win against Saugus gave the Golden Knights, ranked No. 5 in CIF Southern Section Division III, a 4-0 record to start the season for the fifth consecutive year.
The perfect start looked to be in jeopardy in the early going against the Centurions (3-2).
Perrantes, a junior transfer from Crespi who had passed fof 787 yards and nine touchdowns in three games, left the game in the second after throwing for 97 yards and one touchdown.
He was replaced by Greg Dulcich, who led the comeback. The senior, a much ballyhooed receiver, completed four of 10 passes for 80 yards and two touchdowns and carried the ball nine times for 56 yards.
“I was able to retain some of the things I picked up in the offseason behind the great line that we have I knew I would have plenty of time to do what I needed to do,” Dulcich said. “It was a really good job by our defense and that pumped us up.”
The Golden Knights got two interceptions from sophomore Kevin Armstead, one from senior Zach Kejmar and one from sophomore Tanner Tomko..
After taking a 3-0 lead on a 27-yard field goal by Nico Boschetti with 8:27 left in the first quarter, St. Francis fell behind, 7-3, on a Saugus touchdown. The Golden Knights took back the lead, 9-7, on a 35-yard pass from Perrantes to senior Andrew Monarrez with 1:25 remaining.
But the Centurions surged back on top with a score to make it 14-9 with 10:39 left before half.
Keyed by its defense, St. Francis scored four unanswered touchdowns, the last coming on a 33-yard pick-six from Armstead as time ran out, to send the visitors into the locker room with a 35-14 advantage.
Senior Elijah Washington carried 22 times for 101 yards and two touchdowns for the Golden Knights. Senior Richard Godfrey also scored on a two-yard run, senior Blake Howard had a 39-yard touchdown reception and Cordova had a 13-yard touchdown reception.
“We just need to practice better, we need to practice harder and come out ready to play from the opening kickoff,” Bonds said. “I think they were just a little too relaxed coming in.
“I think the fact that Darius went out early and we were able to still win is a testament to these guys.”
St. Francis increased its lead to 42-14 after three quarters.
Twitter: @jefftsports
