Experienced St. Francis football looks to stay a little longer in 2017
As autumns pass along season by season, standouts and starters move on and graduate, but St. Francis High football, under coach Jim Bonds, maintains a constant set of goals and approach.
“Definitely have a winning record, definitely want to get the [Angelus] League title back and the ultimate goal is to win a [CIF] championship,” senior lineman and captain Matt Barriga said, “but we have to take it one step at a time.”
Added running back/linebacker/captain Elijah Washington: “It’s week by week right now; that’s how it is every season. We never treat any one team like they’re better than any other.”
St. Francis will kick off its season Thursday and it will end its season in what many believe will be a showdown with Angelus League title implications against Cathedral.
And like every season under Bonds, the goals of winning league, making a run in the playoffs and winning a CIF championship are present.
But the game-by-game approach remains, as well.
“We’ve got enough returners on this team that everybody has a sour taste from going out in the first round last year,” Bonds said. “Obviously, making the playoffs in this new format is more difficult than it used to be, so our goals are even more important. We need to have a winning season, so we can get into the playoffs. And we want to win league and then make some noise in the playoffs.
“But we have to take a game-by-game approach to do that.”
Following a 9-2 2016 season in which St. Francis took second in the Angelus League and bowed out of the CIF Southern Section Division III playoffs in the first round against Palos Verdes, 38-37, the Golden Knights lost plenty of talent. Among the biggest names were All-Area Football Player of the Year Daniel Scott and All-Area honorees Michael Bonds and Maxx Jakeway.
But there is plenty of talent returning, such as Barriga, Washington, senior receiver/defensive back Greg Dulcich, senior defensive end Gabriel Grbavac and senior defensive back Bobby Gazmarian, all of them returning All-Area standouts.
However, the most concentrated returning talent is most notably on the offensive line in which all five starters started at least two games last season and three of the five were regular starters throughout the season.
“The experience is hard to come by,” Bonds said of his offensive line. “The communication and playing together so much, I think that bodes well for this season.”
Barriga will man the left tackle spot with senior Luke Hunter at left guard, senior Sean Barkley at center, senior Nic Konrad at right guard and senior Kevin Macho at right tackle.
That line will be tasked with protecting quarterback Darius Perrantes, a junior who transferred from Crespi.
“I like his arm strength, I like his decision-making; he’s got a great release,” Bonds said. “A lot of the things we need to see, we won’t see until we get into live action.”
By many accounts, Perrantes has quickly acclimated himself to the team.
“I definitely think we have a good chemistry,” said Dulcich, who hauled in 30 catches for 406 yards and four touchdowns a season ago. “We always seem to be on the same page.”
Dulcich has drawn a great deal of attention along with college scouts during the offseason and is likely to be moved around to make the impact Bonds believes he’s capable of making. He’ll be joined in the receiving corps by senior Blake Howard, who Bonds said has become “bigger, faster and stronger” in the offseason, senior Andrew Monarrez, who might have the best hands and be the best route runner on the team, and seniors Tony Norton and Isaac Cordova.
“I feel good about our receiving corps,” Bonds said. “They’ve gelled a lot in the summer.”
Washington split playing time with fellow All-Area honoree Jace Harrick last season in the backfield, but he’s now the go-to guy.
“It feels good,” said Washington, who rushed for 582 yards and six touchdowns in 100 carries last season. “It feels good to know that I’m going to get the ball until I’m tired, basically.”
When Washington is spelled, it will likely be sophomore Kevin Armstead, a transfer from Chaminade, who comes in and he’s looked sharp in the summer, as well.
Armstead will start alongside Gazmarian (55 tackles, three interceptions last season) at cornerback with Dulcich taking up a safety spot and Cordova and Howard vying for the other.
Washington (50 tackles) will be another two-way starter, returning at linebacker with senior Andrew Cabato and junior Will Stewart joining him in the middle of the 4-3 defense that is likely to show some different looks.
Barriga (22 tackles), who likely played more snaps than any other Golden Knight last season, returns to start on the defensive line, taking up an end spot opposite Grbavac (44 tackles, nine sacks). On the inside, Konrad is likely to rotate at nose tackle with junior Louis Menacho, while Zach Kejmar, a senior, is slated at the other tackle spot.
And so it goes that a senior-heavy band of Golden Knights is ready to tackle another season.
“I really do think we can,” Dulcich said of bringing the Angelus League title back to St. Francis after winning it in 2014. “We have a lot of talent on both sides of the ball.
“I think we’ve definitely got a great chance at bringing the title back.”
But just as the goals of a winning season, a league title and CIF playoff success are the same, so too is the approach for St. Francis.
However, perhaps for the first time since 2014, St. Francis is brimming with returning starters and they’re striving to finish higher than last year’s second-place league finish and play beyond last season’s nailbiting first-round exit.
“I think we do have the potential to have a great season,” Barriga said, “and [last year is] always in the back of our minds to keep pushing us.”
Twitter: @TCNGrantGordon
