HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL ROUNDUP : Strong Ground Game Leads St. Bonaventure

Controlling the clock and the line of scrimmage, the St. Bonaventure High football team plowed over Harvard-Westlake, 27-10, in a nonleague game Saturday at Harvard-Westlake.

St. Bonaventure tailback Topi Sanchez bulled his way for 186 yards in 28 carries and scored on runs of six and seven yards behind the Seraphs’ overpowering offensive line.

“We took charge [of the line of scrimmage] and played up to our potential in the second half,” St. Bonaventure Coach Jon Mack said.

“Harvard-Westlake has a lot of players that go both ways and we felt that if we controlled the ball we could tire them out.”

St. Bonaventure opened the scoring late in the second quarter when 6-foot-1, 294-pound tight end David Bernal caught a 22-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Teohua Sanchez to cap an 11-play, 63-yard drive. Andrew Montenegro ran for the two-point conversion.

The Seraphs sandwiched Topi Sanchez’s first and second scoring runs around a 46-yard field goal by Harvard’s Greg Nortman for a 21-3 fourth-quarter lead.

St. Bonaventure got its final points on a 21-yard fumble return for a touchdown by lineman Brandon Elliott. Harvard tacked on a late touchdown against the Seraphs’ second-string defense on a two-yard run by Abed Abusaleh.

Abusaleh was the lone bright spot for the Wolverines (0-2), rushing for 72 yards in 19 carries.

“We hoped to spread the defense out, but we didn’t complete enough passes to keep them honest,” Harvard Coach Dave Bennett said.

Harvard’s Merlin DeMartinis completed four of 13 passes for 66 yards with one interception, but had several well-thrown passes dropped by Wolverine receivers.

St. Bonaventure’s Teohua Sanchez completed 11 of 20 for 105 yards and one touchdown. Jose Villasenor finished with five receptions for 42 yards.

In other nonleague games:

Santa Clara 17, St. Monica 8--Sophomore quarterback Adrian Maciel passed for one touchdown and rushed for another at Channel Islands High.

Maciel opened the scoring with an eight-yard touchdown run in the first quarter. Maciel connected with receiver Andy Super on a 65-yard pass play late in the second quarter to give the Saints (1-1) a 17-0 halftime lead. Maciel completed six of 18 for 151 yards.

Mike Moon rushed for 64 yards in four carries. Marco Gonzalez kicked a 31-yard field goal.

St. Monica (0-2) scored late in the game on an 11-yard run by Dan North, who also ran for a two-point conversion.