Brown Scores Twice, Rushes for 169 Yards in 21-15 Servite Victory

There is little mystery to Servite High School’s offense this season except which way tailback Derek Brown will run with the football.

Colton Coach Robin Luken knew it, as did most of the 1,800 in Glover Stadium Saturday night.

“For Servite to make things happen, they have to put the ball in Brown’s hands,” Luken said.

Containing Brown was Luken’s goal, but stopping him might be a pipe dream. It certainly didn’t happen Saturday.

After a sluggish first half, Brown made things happen with touchdown runs of 8 and 45 yards in Servite’s 21-15 victory over Colton.

Brown, who rushed for 1,080 yards last season, finished with 169 in 17 carries. Colton running back Johnny Atlas actually had better numbers (30 attempts, 195 yards), but he didn’t score.

Unlike Brown.

After getting just a light workout in the first half (7 carries, 39 yards), Brown began building momentum in the third quarter.

With the score tied, 7-7, Servite’s Brad Williams recovered a fumble on the Colton 42.

Brown carried for 13 yards on the first play of the drive. Three plays later, he swept right, cut inside a block from fullback Garrett Greedy, and went untouched into the end zone. Greg Dovidio’s extra point gave Servite a 14-7 lead.

“We were having problems with our guards, so we started slow in the first half,” Brown said. “But, they screwed it on tight for the second half. The offense got it going.”

In the fourth quarter, Brown was the Servite offense--not a difficult task as the Friars ran just six plays. But, with Brown, it was quality, not quantity.

Colton put together a 14-play drive to start the quarter, getting as far as the Servite 35. But a delay-of-game penalty turned a fourth-and-one play into a fourth-and six situation. Quarterback Joe DeLeon threw an incomplete pass under pressure, giving Servite the ball.

Brown ran twice, gaining 3 and 12 yards, and put Servite on the Colton 45. Following a timeout, Brown broke free around right end. Defensive backs Shannon Flakes and Denver Robison tried to make the play at the 30, but Brown merely sidestepped them both on his way to a touchdown with 3:54 left in the game.

“Once I turned the corner, it was over,” Brown said. “I knew I had those guys.”

Atlas, who gained 1,325 yards in 1987, got Colton back into the game on its next possession.

He had a 57-yard run, weaving through the Servite defense, that gave the Yellowjackets a first down on the Servite 8. After a penalty moved the ball back to the 20, Atlas took a hand off, stepped back and threw a touchdown pass to Flakes. Atlas ran for a two-point conversion, cutting the deficit to 21-15 with 1:11 remaining.

However, Colton’s onside kick was recovered by Servite and Brown ran out the clock.

The first half was dominated by defense and mistakes.

Colton opened the game by driving to the Servite 22, but Atlas fumbled and the Friars’ Chris Melodia recovered.

Servite’s offense appeared to stall, as quarterback Chris Johnson was chased from the pocket to the left on a third-and-17 play.

However, Johnson stopped before running out of bounds, turned back to his left and fired a pass to wide receiver Phil Blanchard, who had slipped behind Colton’s secondary. Blanchard caught the ball on the 30 and went untouched for a 60-yard touchdown.

Colton tied the score in the second quarter on a two-yard touchdown run by Don Markham.