Bishop Amat Comes Up Big

Marijon Ancich, the venerable coach at Santa Fe Springs St. Paul, feared the homecoming game Friday against La Puente Bishop Amat would be decided by big plays.

With a team that was smaller and slower than Bishop Amat’s, No. 14 in The Times’ rankings, Ancich’s fears were well-grounded.

Bishop Amat scored on four drives, each including a play of at least 30 yards, to beat St. Paul, 24-23, in front of 7,000 at Msgr. Cranham Stadium in a Del Rey League opener.

The last big play for Bishop Amat (6-1, 1-0) was a 56-yard completion from Michael Lange to Joshua Chamois, who took a pass over the middle down to the seven-yard line. Donnie McCleskey scored from five yards with 1 minute 49 seconds to give Bishop Amat its 24-23 advantage. McCleskey rushed 23 times for 208 yards and two touchdowns, including a 74-yarder against St. Paul (3-4, 0-1).

Lange completed eight of 15 passes for 238 yards and two touchdowns, including an 84-yarder on Bishop Amat’s fourth play from scrimmage. And all night long, McCleskey came up big to keep drives alive.

“The team trusted me,” he said. ‘When we needed a big play, they called on me.”