St. Bonaventure Has Last Word

Sanchez to Villasenor. It will stand as the mantra of the St. Bonaventure High football team.

Quarterback Teohua Sanchez and receiver Pepe Villasenor did it again Saturday night, connecting on a pair of touchdown passes to lead the Seraphs to an 18-14 comeback victory over Nordhoff before 5,000 in the Southern Section Division X final at Nordhoff.

St. Bonaventure rallied after trailing, 14-0, little more than seven minutes into the game.

The Seraphs (12-1-1) answered with 2 minutes 28 seconds to play in the first quarter on a touchdown pass from Sanchez to Bryce Johnson to make the score 14-6.

Then Villasenor got into the act, making seven of his eight receptions--including the two touchdowns--after the first quarter. Villasenor finished the season with a Ventura County-record 111 receptions.

“He’s all heart,” Sanchez said of Villasenor, a childhood friend from their Oxnard neighborhood. “That’s all it was, a lot of heart from a great player.”

Nordhoff Coach Cliff Farrar was not shy about giving credit to the Seraph passing game.

“Their kids made big catches in all the big situations to keep drives going or to score,” Farrar said. “Our defense bent and didn’t break often but the field position we were in hurt us. We would drive 30 yards and still be nowhere near scoring.”

The victory was St. Bonaventure’s sixth in a row and was its second Southern Section title. The first was a Division 1-A crown in 1968. The Seraphs also avenged their only loss, a 14-8 defeat at the hands of Nordhoff on Sept. 28.

Nordhoff (12-1-1) suffered its second loss in a section final in three years. The Rangers were routed by Atascadero in 1994.

Nordhoff received the opening kickoff and drove 68 yards in six plays, scoring on a two-yard sneak by quarterback Jim Musick.

The drive’s key play was a 51-yard run by Russell Farrar, who finished with 113 yards in 18 carries.

Mike Sedlak blocked a punt on St. Bonaventure’s ensuing possession and Nordhoff regained possession at the Seraph 28.

The Rangers ran on five of their next six plays, scoring on an eight-yard carry by Kevin Zielsdorf. Matt Cresto added his second conversion kick for a 14-0 lead with 4:51 to play in the first quarter.

Unfazed, St. Bonaventure drove 61 yards in seven plays, scoring when Johnson beat a defender down the right sideline for the touchdown catch.

Nordhoff ran three plays and punted, giving St. Bonaventure the ball at its 38.

The Seraphs used five running plays and five passes to score, the last play a seven-yard catch by Sanchez, who wrestled the ball from a defender in a corner of the end zone. A conversion pass failed and Nordhoff led, 14-12, at halftime.

St. Bonaventure struck for the winning points on its second possession of the second half, driving 79 yards in 14 plays.

On third and 10 from the Nordhoff 13, Sanchez fired a bullet to Villasenor, who ran to the goal line and stepped back to meet the ball. Hit by two Rangers, the receiver broke the tackles and scored.

“Pepe and Teohua are two of the greatest kids I’ve ever been around,” seventh-year St. Bonaventure Coach Jon Mack said of the seniors. “Their composure is phenomenal and it allows them to do things so well out here.”

Nordhoff got no closer than the St. Bonaventure 28 in the fourth quarter and wasn’t helped when St. Bonaventure embarked on a 13-play drive that stalled at the Nordhoff 13 but ate six minutes.

The Rangers tried to launch a desperate comeback, but on fourth and 17 from his own six, Musick was pressured by Dave Bernal and his last pass fell incomplete with 1:36 left.

Sanchez completed 20 of 32 passes for 205 yards and three touchdowns. He was 275 of 369 for 3,027 yards and 28 touchdowns on the season.

Villasenor finished the season with 1,278 receiving yards and 15 touchdowns.

Musick completed three of five passes for 16 yards.