PREP FOOTBALL ROUNDUP : Bishop Amat Defeats Muir, 38-20

Bishop Amat High of La Puente, preparing for its opener in the realigned Southern Section Division I Angelus League in two weeks, rolled past mistake-prone Pasadena Muir, 38-20, Friday night at La Canada High.

The Lancers, The Times’ fourth-ranked Southern Section team, took advantage of four Muir turnovers.

Bishop Amat improved to 3-1. Muir, sixth-rated and the defending Division II champion, is 2-2.

“We feel like that’s the Division I champion,” Muir Coach John Tyree said. “They’re not as physical as Bishop Amat teams of the past, but they execute.”

Junior tailback Scott Fields led Bishop Amat with a game-high 141 yards in 15 carries and had touchdown runs of 57 and 26 yards.

Bishop Amat quarterback Zach Zertuche completed 10 of 13 passes--including his last nine in a row--for 93 yards. Zertuche connected with Miregi Huma on a 12-yard touchdown pass play with 40 seconds left in the first half that gave the Lancers a 21-7 halftime lead.

Muir had pulled to within 21-14 when linebacker Damon Dannecker picked up a Bishop Amat fumble and returned it 28 yards for a touchdown one minute into the second half.

Bishop Amat went ahead, 28-14, on a 25-yard touchdown run by Jess Holguin with 7:16 left in the third quarter before Muir self-destructed.

The Mustangs lost fumbles on consecutive possessions that resulted in a 25-yard field goal by Steve Molina and a one-yard touchdown run by Jason Patterson that gave Bishop Amat a 38-14 lead with 4:47 left in the game.