St. Francis football hangs on to down Dorsey

LA CAÑADA — Following its first four offensive drives, St. Francis High’s football team had four touchdowns, a comfortable 21-point lead and all was well at the friendly confines of Friedman Field.

But then came a huge shift in momentum as Dorsey turned in a big kick return, put together grinding drives and turned a game seemingly destined to be a rout into a nailbiter.

However, the Golden Knights’ offense was able to click for one more score and the defense held strong, with an Elijah Washington one-yard fourth-quarter touchdown run serving as the game-winner and a Daniel Scott defensed pass serving as the game-clincher in St. Francis’ 34-28 nonleague win over Dorsey on Friday night.

“We started off really fast and I think we let off of the gas a little bit,” said Scott, who looked to have come down with an interception on the final play of the game when Dorsey threw into the end zone, but it was ruled he was out of bounds, nonetheless securing the victory. “But in general, I think we gutted it out.”

The Los Angeles City Section’s Dorsey (2-2) emerged from a three-touchdown deficit to tie the game at 28 with 11:50 to go in the contest. But St. Francis had enough left to improve to 4-0, as the offense put together a 59-yard scoring drive following a bad Dons punt with Washington plowing in from a yard out. The ensuing point-after attempt was blocked, but the defense bent, but didn’t break on the ensuing drive to ensure the victory.

“It was really two different halves,” said St. Francis Coach Jim Bonds, whose Golden Knights lost the second half, 21-6. “We only had two plays in the third quarter.

“By the time we saw the ball again, it was 28-21 and everyone kind of tightened up.”

Scott caught the first of three Michael Bonds (13 for 18 for 222 yards) touchdown passes to begin the game, as the Golden Knights sprinted out to a 28-7 lead.

But a huge kickoff return by Antwone Williams (originally a 97-yard touchdown that was called back to the St. Francis 23-yard line) set up a 23-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Jerman Gotoy to speedy receiver Elijah Boykins to cut the lead to 28-14 with just 1:59 to play in the first half.

From there, the once mighty St. Francis offense sputtered, running just four plays on the ensuing drive and then only two in a pivotal third quarter.

Dorsey began the second half with a 16-play, 80-yard odyssey of a drive that concluded in devastating fashion for the Golden Knights when Boykins hauled in a 19-yard Gotoy touchdown pass on fourth and eight.

Then, St. Francis had just two offensive plays, the second an interception that set up Dorsey at its own 38.

Again the Dons marched, going 11 plays and 62 yards to tie the game at 28 after a Charles Mincy Jr. 10-yard touchdown run.

St. Francis’ answer was a three-and-out.

But the beleaguered defense withstood an eight-play drive and forced a punt.

“We were a little tired,” said Scott of how much time the defense was spending on the field, which was multiplied when considering the size of Dorsey’s mammoth offensive line. “Dorsey did a good job of just slowly driving down. We gutted it out.”

Then the Golden Knights took over for the game-winning drive.

The Dons got the ball back with 3:38 to play, but began the drive on their own four-yard line following great kickoff coverage and a false start penalty. Dorsey drove down to the St. Francis 21, where, with seven seconds on the clock, Gotoy lofted a pass into the right corner of the end zone, but Scott was at the center of a group of Golden Knights, who locked down the game.

Running back Jace Harrick scored on a two-yard run in the first half for a 28-7 lead and finished with 66 yards in 12 carries, but nine carries for 60 yards in the first half.

Washington had two total touchdowns, the first coming on a 25-yard middle screen for a 14-7 lead.

A wide-open Gabriel Mathews then hauled in a 31-yard score for a 21-7 lead.

Alas, the Golden Knights had 250 yards of total offense in the first half, but just 311 for the game.

“It was such a sick feeling just kind of losing momentum,” Jim Bonds said. “We were kind of fortunate.”

Fortunate, but still 4-0.