St. Francis football rallies to 3-0 with win over Monrovia
MONROVIA — It was far from perfect or pretty.
But the St. Francis High football team, bolstered by four touchdowns from running back Areg Nazarian and four sacks from Buster Roebuck, emerged from Monrovia on Friday night with a 32-14 win and still perfect on the season with a 3-0 record.
PHOTOS: St. Francis vs. Monrovia non-league football
“I’m happy with 3-0,” said St. Francis Coach Jim Bonds, whose team is ranked second in the CIF Southern Section Southeast Division and has now defeated Monrovia three straight seasons. “Are we executing at the level where we need to be executing? No.
“But we’re finding ways to win.”
St. Francis trailed Monrovia (2-2), 7-0, early in the first quarter and 14-6 at the end of the first stanza, but rolled out the final 26 points of the game en route to the victory, its 14th over its past 15 games.
Nazarian finished with 95 yards and three rushing scores in 18 carries, while also hauling in two passes for 22 yards, including a score. However, what loomed largest at the onset was a fumble by the senior that was returned 91 yards for the first points of the game.
“I was pretty upset,” Nazarian said. “Stuff happens. You just have to come back.
“I thought we did that well tonight. We came back with a fire.”
And St. Francis’ defense was terrific throughout, limiting Monrovia to 222 total yards (172 passing, 50 rushing) with standout running back Lawrence Spice bottled up to the tune of 44 yards in 17 carries.
“Spicer didn’t go crazy,” Bonds said. “That was a point of emphasis this week to wrap him up.”
The St. Francis defensive line recorded five sacks, with Roebuck notching four.
“Our D-line really got after the quarterback,” Bonds said.
Still, the Golden Knights couldn’t pull away as their offense was stymied by the one crucial turnover, penalties, three missed point-after tries and an unrelenting Monrovia defense that brought at least five or six rushers seemingly every play.
A Nazarian eight-yard run up the gut served as the game-winner in the second quarter, but the game remained at 18-14 until the fourth quarter when Nazarian scored twice more with a bulldozing three-yard run with 9:48 to go in the game and a four-yard score with 3:54 left.
Not lost in the mix was junior quarterback Miles Bryant, who was sacked five times starting for the first time against the school he transferred from. Still, Bryant put up good numbers with nine completions for 164 yards and two touchdowns in 15 attempts.
All was well for St. Francis at the onset.
The Golden Knights, with Bryant three of three passing for 43 yards, drove to the Monrovia 7-yard line on the first drive. But a Nazarian fumble on the edged was scooped up by Jordan Peevy and returned 91 yards for the score.
“It’s not only a 14-point switch, but it’s a psychological switch,” Bonds said. “It’s a big play.”
Trailing, 7-0, St. Francis scored when Bryant hit a wide-open Danile Scott for a 46-yard touchdown. The ensuing point-after kick attempt was missed, though.
Monrovia increased its lead to 14-6 when quarterback Asaph Zamora hit Aubrey Mosley for a 56-yard touchdown on the ensuing drive.
But the St. Francis defense held strong thereafter, containing the Wildcats to 131 yards of offense in the first half.
Thanks to good field position, St. Francis’ offense final got going again when it took over on its own 44.
Bryant would hit Nazarian over the middle on a 15-yard score to bring the tally to 14-12. The preceding play keyed the drive, though, as Bryant hit Jasher Foster for 17 yards on fourth and 12.
Foster then set up the next score with a 39-yard punt return to the Monrovia 16.
Nazarian then scored the game-winner from eight yards. It was the second of his four straight touchdowns to conclude the game, but the Golden Knights also missed a second straight two-point try.
Nonetheless, though the game wasn’t all that pretty for St. Francis, the final result was.