Servite Wins, but Friars Don’t Do It Cheaply

Moments after Servite High School had defeated Damien, 27-6, in a nonleague game Friday night in La Verne, Leo Hand was livid.

The Servite coach was upset because he thought Damien’s defense was dealing in cheap shots.

“I think they (Damien) were a little upset, the way they were cheap shotting us,” Hand said. “They hurt some of our players. We would have scored 100 points if we could have. They didn’t even shake our hands afterwards.

“We saw film of the Huntington Beach game (last week) and they were cheap shotting in that game, so we kind of expected it.”

Damien Coach Dick Larson denied his team were taking cheap shots at the Friars.

“This is my 25 year of coaching and I have never condoned that kind of behavior,” Larson said. “In fact one of the things we take pride in is that we play aggressive but we put limits on the kids.

“Servite has a very fine football team and I respect them as football team. They just merely met a bunch of a kids who wouldn’t roll over for them. We played aggressive football and that’s just the way we like it. When I teach or condone cheap shotting, I find another job.”

The accusations may have overshadowed an outstanding performance by Servite quarterback Tim Rosenkranz, who completed 8 of 12 passes for 222 yards and 2 touchdowns. Rosenkranz, a senior, has passed for 664 yards and 5 touchdowns this season.

“We knew that he could do that sort of thing,” Larson said. “We tried to take it away from him, but we just couldn’t. He is an outstanding quarterback.”

Both of the touchdown passes were to wide receiver Jeff Fieldhouse, who finished with 6 receptions for 179 yards.

Damien, which saw its record fall to 0-3, managed to stay close to the Friars for most of the game.

Servite, 3-0, used the powerful leg of sophomore kicker Pat Blottiaux to open a lead of 6-0 after the first quarter.

Blottiaux kicked a 24-yard field goal with 9:50 remaining in the quarter and added a 47-yarder at the end of the period.

Damien made it close when John Soltis kicked a 27-yard field goal with 7:38 left in the first half.

But the Friars got some breathing room when they drove 74 yards in eight plays for a touchdown late in the second quarter. Fieldhouse got the score on a 12-yard pass from Rosenkranz with :57 seconds remaining.