St. Bonaventure Goes Long Then Comes Up Short, 16-8

St. Bonaventure High came up short in the final minutes Friday night and lost to Bishop Diego, 16-8, at San Marcos High, allowing the Cardinals to clinch second place in the Tri-Valley League.

The Seraphs began a final drive from their 20-yard line with 4 1/2 minutes to play but came away empty-handed when tight end David Bernal caught a fourth-down pass from Teohua Sanchez at the Cardinals’ one-yard line but was ruled out of bounds.

St. Bonaventure (7-3, 2-2 in league play), which finished third, drove from its 33-yard line to the Bishop Diego three on the game’s opening possession.

But after Sanchez was sacked for a four-yard loss on first down, disaster struck.

Sanchez’s pass was deflected by Bishop Diego’s Clay Murdy at the goal line and the ball bounced into the hands of Ruben Gomez, who returned it 97 yards to the St. Bonaventure three.

Bishop Diego scored on the next play, its first from scrimmage, on a run by Anthony Arria.

The Cardinals struck again late in the second quarter on an eight-play, 57-yard scoring drive capped by an 11-yard run by quarterback Brian Elmerick.

St. Bonaventure scored with 18 seconds left in the third quarter when Teohua Sanchez threw a six-yard touchdown pass to his brother, Topi Sanchez. Teohua Sanchez passed to Pepe Villasenor for the two-point conversion.

Teohua Sanchez was 22 of 33 for 199 yards, while Topi Sanchez ran for 97 yards in 17 carries.

Villasenor had 11 catches for 104 yards.