Maxwell Paces St. Francis, 28-7

Running back Darren Maxwell rushed for 191 yards in 33 carries and scored two touchdowns to lead St. Francis High to a 28-7 victory over Verdugo Hills in a nonleague football game Friday night.

Maxwell caught an 11-yard scoring pass from Brian Rucker in the first quarter and ran two yards for another touchdown in the third quarter. Maxwell had two receptions for 22 yards.

Rucker, who led St. Francis on scoring drives of 66 and 79 yards, left the game because of a lower back injury after connecting with tight end Chris Ross on a two-point conversion following the Golden Knights’ second score.

Rucker completed four of seven passes for 78 yards.

In Rucker’s place, reserve quarterback John Carnevali guided St. Francis (1-0-1) on two fourth-quarter scoring drives.

Carnevali threw touchdown passes of seven yards to Andrew Warnock (two receptions, 33 yards) and nine yards to Vince Dioguardi.

For Verdugo Hills, tailback Jason Evans rushed for 111 yards in 10 carries.

Quarterback David Kelly completed two of five passes for 15 yards and provided the Dons’ only touchdown on a 17-yard keeper, set up by a 52-yard run by Evans on the previous play.