St. Francis High football offense scores at will en route to 49-32 win over Canyon

LA CAÑADA — Aside from one blemish, the St. Francis High offense was unstoppable on Friday night.

Thanks to lofty contributions from senior quarter Jeremiah Martin and his arsenal of dangerous options, the Golden Knights scored on seven of eight offensive drives on their way to staying perfect on the year with a 49-32 win over Canyon Country Canyon in nonleague action at Friedman Field.

“I think we had a good game plan coming into it and we executed it,” said Martin, who was 18 of 25 passing for two touchdowns and 297 yards and added a pair of one-yard touchdowns on the ground, while rushing for a team-high 77 yards in 12 carries. “We were firing on all cylinders.”

With the victory, St. Francis, ranked No. 1 in the CIF Southern Section Southeast Division, improved to 4-0 and furthered its offensive explosion to start the season, as it came in averaging 42 points a game in its previous three victories.

Martin threw a 12-yard touchdown to senior tight end John Carroll (seven catches for 91 yards) and a nine-yard score to junior running back/receiver Avery Williams, who had an all-round terrific night with three total touchdowns and an interception at defensive back. Junior receiver Dylan Crawford added 99 yards receiving on five grabs, while junior running back Areg Nazarian had 70 yards and a score in 18 carries.

“I know I probably have the best receiving corps in the area and I’m gonna use them,” Martin said.

The offense of Canyon (2-3) was plenty prolific, as well, but St. Francis scored 21 unanswered points in a span from the second quarter through the third that gave the Golden Knights breathing room and a 42-18 lead. However, the St. Francis defense had its share of trouble stopping the Cowboys, who saw quarterback Miles Fallin throw for 345 yards and three touchdowns on 19 of 29 passing.

Canyon cut the lead to 42-25 with 10:38 to play in the game and then forced its only stop of the game on the ensuing play from scrimmage when it forced the only St. Francis turnover on a fumble at the Golden Knights’ 17. Five plays later the Cowboys cut the score to 42-32.

“It never felt like we could put it away,” Golden Knights Coach Jim Bonds said. “We could not come up with those definitive stops to where we could feel comfortable.”

But St. Francis’ offense rebounded from its only gaffe with an eight-play drive keyed by a Martin-to-Crawford 23-yard pass on third and four. Martin scored on a one-yard keeper with 4:35 to play that essentially wrapped up the game before the Golden Knights finally got the stop they needed to seal the game.

“The offense seemed to be clicking,” Bonds said. “It seemed like everything we dialed up was working.”

Neither team wasted any time in establishing the game as an offensive battle.

Canyon began with a nine-play, 80-yard drive that took more than four minutes and ended with a Fallin five-yard screen to senior Liam Cabrera, who hauled in nine catches for 189 yards. However, the point-after attempt was botched in a sign of things to come, as the Cowboys were unable to convert on two PATs and one conversion try.

Meanwhile, St. Francis answered the Cowboys’ initial score with its own, methodically driving 80 yards on 14 plays — nine of them runs, including a four-yard touchdown up the middle by Williams, who had 32 yards rushing in seven carries and 51 yards receiving on three catches.

Williams notched an interception on the first play of the second quarter, leading to Martin’s scoring hook-up with Carroll.

Canyon came right back with a 76-yards scoring grab from Cabrera, but still trailed, 14-12.

Williams scored again on a nine-yard catch and a two-yard run sandwiched around another Cowboys score en route to the 28-18 halftime lead for the Knights.

Nazarian rushed in from for yards on a pitch left to open the second half for a 35-18 lead ahead of the Golden Knights forcing the only punt of the game and then scoring on their sixth consecutive drive to open the game when Martin sneaked in from a yard.

But then came the brief rebuttal by Canyon.

On Friday night, however, as it’s been all season thus far, the Golden Knights’ offense was just too much.

“That was the goal, to be 4-0 at this time of the night,” Bonds said.