Bystedt, Servite Overpower Tustin in Season Opener : Prep football: Fullback rushes for 155 yards and scores four touchdowns in Friars’ 35-19 victory.

They can be league rivals, as they were last season, or friendly rivals, as they will continue to be.

Whatever the situation, Servite seems to have Tustin’s number.

On Friday night, third-ranked Tustin and fifth-ranked Servite squared off in the teams’ season opener. And when the final gun went off 2 1/2 hours later, the Friars had outmuscled the Tillers, 35-19, before an estimated 2,000 spectators at Tustin High.

It was the fifth victory in the last six meetings between the teams, which shared the 1998 Golden West League championship. This season Servite moves to the Serra League.

Both offenses were reasonably sharp for a first game, but Servite’s key contribution came from an unexpected source. Senior fullback Chad Bystedt, a little-used tight end last season, rushed for 155 yards, caught three passes for 44 yards and scored four touchdowns.

Two came by the run, including a 75-yard burst through the middle in the fourth quarter. That score gave Servite a 28-13 lead with 10:46 to play.

Bystedt also caught two touchdown passes from quarterback Adam Ernst, the second a 20-yard reception with about a minute to play.

“Coming into the game at a new position I didn’t know what to expect,” Bystedt said. “I got some good tips from the coaches on how to run the ball, and I guess I did them all right.”

Friar Coach Larry Toner was glad to survive the Tillers, who always give his team a stern test even though they have beaten Servite only once in recent years, in 1997.

“It feels good to beat a physical team. And Tustin is a fast, strong, physical team,” Toner said.

Tustin Coach Myron Miller felt the Tillers would have to use their speed to beat Servite, and running back Branden Malcom--who rushed for a game-high 171 yards--did his part.

His 67-yard run midway through the first quarter, in which Malcom shook off two tacklers and outran two other defenders down the right sideline, tied the game at 7-7. But Servite took the lead in the second quarter and never gave it up.