With home crowd behind it, St. Francis football vies for semifinal triumph
En route to an impressive upset of No. 2 seed Citrus Hill in the CIF Southern Section Division III quarterfinals, St. Francis High’s football team took a very long bus trip to Perris.
While the ride home was a lengthy one, as well, it was no doubt a more pleasant trip, made all the better by the 30-20 victory the Golden Knights produced and the knowledge that they would be hosting El Toro in Friday’s semifinals at the friendly confines of Friedman Field at 7 p.m.
“It’s just gonna be awesome, because we’re gonna have so many fans out there to support us,” said receiver Greg Dulcich, who had two touchdowns in the win over Citrus Hill. “We’re just gonna feed off their energy.”
While St. Francis (11-1) was knocking off No. 2 Citrus Hill, El Toro (8-4) was upsetting No. 3 Lompoc, 37-16. Had Lompoc won — as many expected — it would have hosted St. Francis.
“We did not expect that, honestly, with everything we heard about Lompoc,” said St. Francis coach Jim Bonds, who has coached St. Francis to the semifinals six times, including his first season in 2000. “But we just focused on the [quarterfinal] game.
“That was just an added bonus. It’s just going to be a great, great atmosphere.”
Bonds has received a slew of texts, emails and calls from alumni — before and after the Citrus Hill win — anxious to pack the house at St. Francis.
The Golden Knights will be making their second semifinal trip in three seasons, but seeking their first championship berth since 1964. A win would put them in the championship against No. 1 seed Charter Oak (12-0) or No. 4 Rancho Verde (10-2). St. Francis would host Rancho Verde and travel to Charter Oak with the game on Dec. 1 or 2.
“It’s definitely cool to think you’re so close to it, but at the same time, you can’t get caught up thinking about how close you are, because you have to go out there and win,” Dulcich said. “We just have to take it one day at a time.”
Against Citrus Hill, St. Francis saw just four passes with the Hawks a run-heavy squad to say the least.
El Toro is in direct contrast.
Senior quarterback Cooper Jones has passed for 3,455 yards and 41 touchdowns with a trio of receivers producing phenomenal seasons thus far. Senior Noah Aguilar has team-highs of 63 catches and 1,099 receiving yards to go with 11 touchdowns, while senior Shane McLaughlin has 42 catches, 960 yards and 12 touchdowns and senior Austin Derrico has 45 grabs, 853 yards and 13 scores. Defensively, senior Raymond Carpenter has terrorized quarterbacks to the tune of 19 sacks.
“They have kind of the opposite offense of what we saw last week,” said Bonds, who also coached Alemany to a semifinal appearance in 1998 during his three-year span coaching there before taking over the head-coaching reins at St. Francis. “They’re in the semis, so they’re obviously good.
“They play some good football down in that area. … We have our work cut out again.”
St. Francis’ offense was led by its passing game in the quarterfinal, but has looked like a running offense, a passing offense and a balanced offense throughout the season.
“We’ll just take what the defense gives us,” Dulcich said.
Dulcich has eight touchdown catches and 874 yards receiving on just 37 catches (a 23.6 yards-per-catch average) and is one of five Golden Knights with double-digit catches. Junior quarterback Darius Perrantes has thrown for 2,331 yards and 21 touchdowns with seven more scores on the ground.
Senior running back Elijah Washington (884 yards, 16 touchdowns) and sophomore Kevin Armstead (521 yards, 12 touchdowns) have combined for more than 1,400 yards on the ground.
While any team still alive at this juncture of the season is likely to have some momentum on its side, St. Francis believes it’s on the heels of its best team performance of the season.
“I think as a team, without question, that was the best game we played — all three phases,” Bonds said of the win over Citrus Hill.
Said linebacker/receiver Blake Howard: “I personally think it was the most complete game we played all season.”
And so Friedman Field is likely to be a packed house on Friday with a berth in the CIF Southern Section Division III championship hanging in the balance and the Golden Knights and Chargers, teams the seedings certainly didn’t have prognosticated to be here, playing for a shot at CIF glory.
“I think we’re clicking at the right time,” Howard said, “and hopefully we can continue to do that on Friday.”
Twitter: @TCNGrantGordon
