DIVISION IX FOOTBALL PLAYOFFS : St. Bonaventure and Noblin Overwhelm Brethren Christian

St. Bonaventure made its first appearance in the Southern Section football playoffs in five years Thursday and quickly made up for lost time.

With senior running back Toby Noblin leading the way, the Seraphs routed Brethren Christian, 32-13, at Ventura High in the opening round of the Southern Section Division IX tournament.

Noblin was nearly the entire offense for St. Bonaventure, gaining 171 yards in 26 carries and scoring on runs of one, 15, three, two and three yards.

Noblin also increased his school single-season rushing record to 1,259 yards, and the five touchdowns gave him the single-season scoring mark of 136 points.

St. Bonaventure (7-4), a tri-champion of the Tri-Valley League, held the Warriors’ run-and-shoot offense to 68 yards rushing while the defensive secondary made it difficult for quarterback Dan Cerio to throw deep.

Seraph defensive backs intercepted four of Cerio’s passes. Mike Gray and Richard Russo each had one interception and linebacker Jeff Onstot had two. Russo’s interception in the second quarter set up a Noblin touchdown run four plays later.

After Noblin and Cerio traded one-yard scoring plunges in the first quarter, Noblin scored three times in the second quarter to turn a 7-7 tie into a 26-13 lead at halftime.

Sophomore running back R. J. Kisling backed Noblin, rushing for 65 yards in 15 carries for St. Bonaventure.

Brethren finished 7-4.