St. Bonaventure Takes Ugly Victory

The end zone was off limits Thursday as visiting St. Bonaventure High slogged to a 3-0 nonleague victory over Harvard-Westlake.

Chris Lombardo’s 26-yard field goal in the second quarter lifted the Seraphs (4-1) to victory and sent the Wolverines (2-3) to their third consecutive defeat. St. Bonaventure drove 50 yards in eight plays to set up the winning kick.

Lombardo, the Seraphs’ quarterback, played hero for the second consecutive week. He kicked a 24-yard field goal with 10 seconds remaining to beat Santa Maria St. Joseph’s, 19-17, last week.

“Ugly, just ugly,” St. Bonaventure Coach Jon Mack said, shaking his head. “We’re just happy as heck to get out of here with a win.”

St. Bonaventure, ranked No. 3 in the latest Southern Section Division X poll, defeated Harvard-Westlake for the third consecutive season.

Harvard-Westlake, a Division III team, could not convert on several scoring chances.

The Wolverines drove to the Seraph 17-yard line with 2:38 to play. But they turned the ball over on downs after a procedure penalty, a Justin Logan two-yard run and three incompletions by John Terzian.

In the third quarter, a 39-yard field-goal attempt by Harvard-Westlake’s Matt Thayer was long enough but wide right. In addition, two Wolverine drives were short-circuited when passes by Terzian and second-string quarterback Matt Felder were intercepted.

The Wolverines entered the game averaging 333 yards of offense per game but were held to 160 yards--90 of it rushing. St. Bonaventure, averaging 348 yards of offense, managed 207.

St. Bonaventure’s best opportunity for a touchdown came with 3:37 remaining in the third quarter, when it had a first-and-goal situation at the three. The Seraphs, however, failed to score on four consecutive running plays.

Another interesting moment came when Mack called for an onside kick to start the second half. The Wolverines recovered at their 46, but their subsequent drive ended in Thayer’s missed field-goal attempt.

Lombardo completed 16 of 25 passes for 127 yards and an interception and teammate Jesse Kirk rushed for 91 yards in 17 carries.

Terzian completed 10 of 20 passes for 58 yards and an interception and Logan rushed for 75 yards in 21 carries. Wolverine Alex Holmes caught six passes for 38 yards.