Paraclete Serves Notice Again

Just in case nobody noticed, Paraclete High is building a football dynasty out in the desert.

The little parochial school from Lancaster won its third consecutive Southern Section football championship on Saturday night and can now take its place next to the Canyon team of the mid-1980s as one of the region’s most dominant programs in the last 20 years.

The Spirits throttled Kilpatrick from start to finish and claimed a 43-6 victory in the Division XII final before a chilled but raucous crowd at Antelope Valley College.

Paraclete (11-3) improved to 37-5 over the last three seasons and has lost only once to a section team in that span.

How long can this continue?

It depends on who you ask.

“I don’t know,” said sophomore running back Curtis Brown, who had 138 yards and two touchdowns in 18 carries. “I’m going for at least two more.”

Said Coach Steve Hagerty: “I can’t even think about next year at this point. I want to enjoy this one.”

There was plenty for the Spirits to celebrate.

They stuffed Kilpatrick’s Jermaine Marshall, who came in with almost super-human numbers but proved all too mortal on this night.

Marshall, who needed only 32 yards to break the state season rushing mark, got the record but little room to run.

He had 94 yards in 19 carries to finish a remarkable senior season with 3,586 yards. He fell two touchdowns shy of the state season record of 59, set by Tustin’s DeShaun Foster in 1997.

The Paraclete defense swarmed to Marshall every time he touched the ball, particularly Robert Watts, Joey Rispaud, Mike Drivdahl and Brian Whisler.

“They just outplayed us,” said Marshall, who had not been held to fewer than 181 yards in 13 games. “I feel like my team didn’t want it as much as they said they did.”

Desire was not a problem for the Spirits. Behind quarterback Rob Fockaert, Paraclete struck quickly and often.

Fockaert, who has guided each of the three title runs, connected with Michael Washington on a 40-yard touchdown pass on the game’s second play.

Paraclete scored on its first four possessions and led, 29-6, at halftime.

With Kilpatrick (9-5) bent on stopping Brown, Fockaert completed 14 of 18 passes for 223 yards and four touchdowns.

“If you’re going to try to stop Curtis, you’re susceptible to the pass,” said Fockaert, who also connected with Craig Herrera, Brian Whisler and Reed Gacho for touchdowns. “Guys were wide open.”

Brown scored on runs of one and 38 yards and finished with 122 yards to lead the first-half burst. Brown finished with 2,633 yards to set a state sophomore rushing season record.

The Mustangs couldn’t shake off the bitter chill of another loss to their Alpha League nemesis.

The loss was Kilpatrick’s sixth in a row against the Spirits, including a 25-14 loss in the 1998 final and a 36-20 loss on Nov. 5 for the Alpha League title.

While the last two meetings were hard-fought games, a Paraclete victory appeared imminent this time nearly from the start.

Fockaert, who passed for 117 yards in the first half, hooked up with Whisler for a 15-yard touchdown in the second quarter.

Marshall scored Kilpatrick’s only touchdown in the first half.

It came on a 20-yard pass from Secel Montgomery in the first quarter, cutting the deficit to 8-6.

That was the last time Kilpatrick was realistically in the game.