Servite Comes Back to Beat St. Paul, 35-33

Servite High School quarterback Tim Rosenkranz led a fourth-quarter rally that saw the Friars score three touchdowns to gain a dramatic 35-33 win over St. Paul Saturday night in an Angelus League game played before 8,000 fans in Santa Ana Stadium.

Rosenkranz threw two touchdown passes and scored another in the last quarter to keep the Friars’ record perfect at 8-0. It was an unlikely win as Servite trailed, 33-20, with only 3:44 remaining.

Rosenkranz’ one-yard plunge into the end zone with 1:32 remaining trimmed St. Paul’s lead to 33-28, and then Corey Wentz executed a perfect on-side kick to give the Friars a first down at the St. Paul 48-yard line and keep their hopes alive.

The winning touchdown came with only 33 seconds remaining and was the play of the game. Rosenkranz lofted a long pass into the Swordsmen’s end zone that appeared to be well out of the reach of Friar wide receiver Jeff Fieldhouse.

But Fieldhouse managed to elude two defenders and caught the ball for a 36-yard touchdown and a two-point margin of victory. The catch was Fieldhouse’s eighth reception of the game and his second touchdown of the night. He totaled 165 yards in receptions.

Rosenkranz completed 17 of 36 pass attempts for 357 yards and 2 touchdowns. The senior established a school record with 357 yards, surpassing former star Steve Beuerlein’s mark of 345 yards set in 1982 against Mater Dei.

Rosenkranz gave an early indication it was going to be a record night. He had 153 yards passing after one quarter of play and 208 yards at halftime. But he also fumbled twice and threw an interception for a touchdown in the first half as the Friars trailed, 26-14.

St. Paul, which fell to 1-2 in league play and 6-2 overall, padded its lead to 33-14 early in the fourth quarter when quarterback John Scott teamed with receiver Frank Mazzotta on a 62-yard touchdown play.

Scott nearly matched Rosenkranz’ passing totals, throwing for 277 yards on 15 of 35 pass attempts. Mazzotta caught 4 passes for 129 yards.

The Swordsmen tore up a Servite defense that had allowed an average of just nine points per game in seven previous games.

St. Paul surpassed the nine-point average in the first quarter that took 45 minutes to play as tailback Mondo Costello capped a 74-yard drive with a 2-yard run for a score and linebacker Roger Alonso intercepted a Rosenkranz screen pass intended for running back Derek Noggle and returned it 21 yards for a touchdown.