St. Paul Gets Drop on Fargas

St. Paul High’s homecoming court was left shivering in the rain when a sudden downpour descended on Friday night’s game between the Swordsmen and Notre Dame.

An hour later, it the Knights who turned blue after losing, 26-22, when Justin Fargas lost a fumble at St. Paul’s 25-yard line with 2:31 to play.

Notre Dame forced the Swordsmen to punt and drove 42 yards to the St. Paul 41 with two seconds left, but a desperation pass by Dave DeMartinis fell incomplete in the end zone.

Fargas’ bobble, recovered by Chris Castillo, was his second lost fumble of the game. He rushed for 154 yards and three touchdowns in 26 carries.

St. Paul’s Manuel Murillo rushed for 260 yards and three touchdowns in 25 carries.

The Knights (4-1) walked off the field to chants of “Overrated!” from the Swordsmen’s cheering section.

Notre Dame is ranked No. 1 in the Southern Section Division III poll and No. 8 in Cal-Hi Sports’ State Top 20 poll.

St. Paul (5-0) is No. 9 in the section’s Division I rankings.

Murillo drew first blood, bursting up the middle for a 71-yard touchdown run and a 7-0 lead on the Swordsmen’s first play from scrimmage.

St. Paul increased the lead to 14-0 on an eight-yard touchdown run by Fidel Zepeda late in the first quarter.

Notre Dame answered in the second quarter with a six-yard touchdown run by Fargas and Juan Plascencia’s 30-yard field goal and it was 14-10 at halftime.

Fargas fumbled at the Knight 16 on the first play of the second half and St. Paul’s Roy Contreras recovered on the seven. Two plays later, Murillo ran three yards for his second touchdown and St. Paul led, 20-10.

On its next possession, Notre Dame drove 86 yards in 11 plays, scoring on Fargas’ 17-yard run to make it 20-16 with 5:44 to play in the third quarter.

Notre Dame took the lead, 22-20, on Fargas’ two-yard touchdown after driving 49 yards in 11 plays.

St. Paul drove 70 yards in 10 plays for the winning touchdown, Murillo’s one-yard run over left tackle with 3:51 remaining. The 5-foot-7, 185-pound junior carried seven times for 43 yards on the march.

DeMartinis completed 14 of 21 passes for 212 yards. Tony Arredondo caught five passes for 108 yards and Rod Arzu had three receptions for 59 yards.

St. Paul’s Chris Willis completed all five of his passes for 71 yards.

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Fargas Watch

A game-by-game look at how Justin Fargas has fared this season

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Opponent Att. Yds. Avg. TD Alemany 25 283 11.3 3 Burroughs 22 257 11.7 5 Beverly Hills 18 266 14.8 3 Crespi 26 175 6.7 2 St. Paul 26 154 5.9 3 Totals 117 1135 9.7 16

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