Reseda Slams Into a Stone Wall Called San Pedro, Loses, 17-0

Never mind the fact that San Pedro High was the defending City Section 3-A Division champion and brought an 11-1 record and a feared defense into Friday night’s semifinal. Reseda Coach Joel Schaeffer expected his team to win.

And when the Regents fell, 17-0, Schaeffer was almost as disappointed as his sobbing players.

“I’ve never gone into a game thinking we’d lose,” Schaeffer said. “We really did think we were going to win.”

Reseda (9-4) was held to 98 yards. And though San Pedro played a gritty game on defense, the Pirates also racked up 85 yards worth of penalties and had a 73-yard punt return by Bryan Castaneda called back.

It could have been worse for Reseda.

“They were pretty good,” Castaneda said of Reseda. “But I knew we’d be able to pass on them.”

Castaneda--despite having his punt return called back because he signaled for a fair catch--had eight receptions for 133 yards and an interception. Castaneda’s big plays helped set up scoring runs of four and one yard by Jeff Williams (13 carries, 41 yards). The other San Pedro score came on a 28-yard field goal by Mike DiMassa.

Castaneda was relegated to defense last year. But in the section championship game, he not only had two interceptions, he was put at wide receiver and scored two touchdowns.

Now Castaneda catches passes from Chris Pappas (11 of 17 for 194 yards) and San Pedro doesn’t rebuild, it reloads.

Schaeffer said Reseda wasn’t happy merely to have reached the semifinal game.

“But this is reality,” he said, “and these guys have come a long way to get here.”

Quarterback Reggie James completed five of 10 passes for only 36 yards. Fullback Travion Trammel rushed for 44 yards in nine carries, and tailback DeWayne Johnson added 31 in 10. That was the extent of Reseda’s offense.

The Regents’ deepest penetration was the San Pedro 26-yard line following a 57-yard fake-reverse kickoff return by Johnson and a 16-yard pass from James to Alonso Arreola. But Reseda gave it up on downs four plays later.

The only thing that prevented a scoreless first half was a Reseda turnover that set up Williams’ four-yard run on the first play of the second quarter, which gave the Pirates a 7-0 lead at halftime.

The San Pedro defense, which came in allowing only 7.6 points per game, produced the opportunity when Castaneda intercepted a pass at the Regent 33. James’ pass was thrown weakly toward the sideline as he tried to avoid a sack.

Pappas hit Castaneda with a nine-yard pass on first down, then Williams and Lindsey Moore took off on 10 and seven-yard runs to set up the touchdown.

The Regents stopped two other scoring threats by a San Pedro offense that averages 354 yards and 27 points a game to keep it close. Cesar Flores grabbed a fumble by Steve Sullivan after a 22-yard pass play, giving the Regents the ball on their 30.

After Reseda couldn’t advance, and the Pirates regained possession on the Regent 46 after a 30-yard punt return by Castaneda, the Regents forced a punt.

But Reseda couldn’t budge, gaining only 62 yards in the first half--40 by Trammel, a 6-foot, 230-pound fullback. And 18 of his yards came on a draw play near the end of the half.

“They contained us,” Schaeffer said. “We didn’t play like we usually do. But that won’t be the way I remember this football team. We had a lot of big games.”