L.A. Baptist Defense Earns Save in Final

Enough about L.A. Baptist High’s high-powered offense: How ‘bout that stingy defense?

Sure, L.A. Baptist’s run-and-shoot propelled the Knights to a 43-21 victory over Brethren Christian on Friday in the Southern Section Division X championship game.

But the offense was in high gear only during the second quarter, when the Knights scored 27 points.

Beyond that, it was a clear-cut victory for the L.A. Baptist defense--a victory that gave L.A. Baptist its second section title in three championship appearances.

A defense that had taken a back seat to the high-profile offense all season held Brethren Christian to 183 yards and forced four turnovers. Brethren Christian had committed only 1.5 turnovers a game before the final.

Forcing turnovers was tops on L.A. Baptist’s list of priorities.

“That’s something we’ve worked on the last six or seven weeks,” Coach Mark Bates said. “Taking the ball away and stripping the ballcarrier.

“We were doing the same drill on Monday and the kids were saying, ‘Hey, this is a fun drill that actually works.’ ”

It certainly worked wonders against the Warriors, who were averaging nearly 300 yards a game.

But takeaways were only one bright spot of the L.A. Baptist defense. A Brethren Christian possession breakdown is the best storyteller.

Of the Warriors’ 12 possessions:

* Five ended with punts, including four three-and-out possessions.

* Four ended on turnovers.

* Three netted touchdowns.

And the touchdown possessions are misleading. Brethren Christian scored after blocking a punt at the Knights’ four-yard line and again after an L.A. Baptist fumble at its 18.

L.A. Baptist amassed 233 of its 308 yards in the first half to fuel a 34-14 halftime lead. The Knights produced only one touchdown in the second half and suddenly their defense was of prime importance, according to Bates.

“I think (defense) played a big part because we were worried about stopping them,” Bates said. “They were real big and (we thought they) could outphysical us.”

Fortunately for the Knights, that never developed.

Brethren Christian came into the game with not one, but two 1,000-yard rushers. Keith Washington was held to 83 yards in 21 carries, and Mark Stump had 51 yards in five carries. Together, the two formed a decent per-carry average, but the Warriors had very little offense beyond that.

The Knights sacked Reggie Davis three times and limited him to 39 yards passing. Matt Hernandez intercepted a pass, and Craig Lord, Chad Ruffner and Henry Matthews each had fumble recoveries for L.A. Baptist.

Perhaps Brethren Christian Coach Ken Sharrar gave the Knights’ defense its greatest compliment: “I felt like they forced us into situations we didn’t want to be in,” he said. “I felt like our game plan was the right one going in. . . . apparently it wasn’t.”

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Hey, what about me?: Defense wasn’t the only facet of the Knights’ game that tended to be overlooked.

Versatile Dana Berg, who plays running back, wide receiver, strong safety and kick returner, could be the poster boy for the Most Overlooked Weapon on the team.

Berg, who at 6-foot-1, 195 pounds doesn’t exactly fit the mold with the smallish but quick Knights, scored three touchdowns against Brethren Christian, giving him a team-high 22 on the season.

How about this for a scoring average? Berg, who scored on runs of one and 18 yards and a 95-yard kickoff return, scored a rushing touchdown about every five times he carried the ball this season. Twelve touchdowns in 59 carries.

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Victory lap: Dana Berg! You’ve just won a division championship and you and your teammates are ready to celebrate the greatest victory of your life. What are you gonna do now?

“We’re either going to the Newbury Park game or go-kart racing, we don’t know which,” Berg said Saturday.

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Repeat or rebuild? The Knights went from 6-6 in 1992 to 13-0 a year later. Too soon to talk about L.A. Baptist repeating as division champion?

Yep. Too soon and too ludicrous. The Knights lose 19 players to graduation and only four starters will return.