Hernandez, L.A. Baptist Soar to Zenith of Alpha League

There was an air show going on at the Kennedy High football stadium Saturday night and no one enjoyed it more than the pilot himself--L.A. Baptist High quarterback Zack Hernandez.

Hernandez completed 25 of 39 passes for 336 yards and a touchdown to help the Knights beat rival Village Christian, 31-18, and clinch the Alpha League title.

It was the regular-season finale for L.A. Baptist (9-0, 3-0 in league play), which has a bye this week, and the Knights’ first league title in football. Defending league champion Village Christian fell to 6-3, 2-1.

“I don’t think you can ask for anything more than this,” said L.A. Baptist Coach Mark Bates, who once played for Village Christian Coach Mike Plaisance. “Village is a big rivalry and to beat them (for the league title) is just great. It just adds to the undefeated season.”

The co-pilot for L.A. Baptist was senior wide receiver Jim Romero, who had 11 receptions for 176 yards and one touchdown and also ran for a score.

For Romero, it was a perfect ending to the Knights’ perfect season.

“This game is always hyped up to be something special--it’s a big rivalry thing,” Romero said. “I came out here and did what I had to do. It’s probably my best game all year.”

L.A. Baptist scored on four of its five first-half possessions. The Knights got rolling with an 80-yard drive on the game’s opening possession. The drive ended when Romero came from right end on a reverse and scored on a 17-yard run to the left corner of the end zone.

Village Christian answered with a 34-yard touchdown pass from Mike Spielman to Matt Darwin on its first possession to tie the score, 7-7.

But, by halftime, the Knights had built a 24-7 lead on Hernandez’s 24-yard pass to Romero, a three-yard touchdown run by Matt Hernandez and a 27-yard field goal by Adrian Kaali-Nagy.

But the featured kicker in this game was Village Christian’s Ignacio Brache, who attempted a 70-yard field goal just before intermission.

That one fell short, along with a 64-yard try early in the third quarter.

Brache did hit a 53-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter to set an Alpha League record and get the Crusaders closer, 24-18.