Damien Stands Up, Beats Bishop Amat

Matthew Lawhorn’s fourth-down pass from the 17-yard line fell incomplete in the end zone with 20 seconds to play, and La Verne Damien’s second goal-line stand of the game was enough to perserve a 14-9 victory over host La Puente Bishop Amat in a nonleague game Friday night.

Bishop Amat (3-1), the No. 15 team in The Times’ rankings, drove 56 yards in 14 plays in the final 2 minutes 30 seconds, but the defense of Damien (3-1) responded. Linebacker Joey Rios sacked Lawhorn for an 11-yard loss on third and six at the Damien six-yard line with 28 seconds left.

Damien ended the first half by stopping Bishop Amat on first and goal from the 10 with 40 seconds left. On third down, Lawhorn fumbled the pitch intended for Chris Seals, sending the Lancers back to the 21 with four seconds left. Aaron Arias missed a 41-yard field goal attempt as time expired, but Bishop Amat led, 9-7.

Damien’s Ian Johnson rushed 27 times for 174 yards and Bishop Amat’s Seals carried 21 times for 119 yards.

Johnson rushed seven times for 56 yards in Damien’s 10-play, 76-yard drive that culminated in a 13-yard scoring run by Frank Fontes, giving the Spartans a 14-9 lead with 2:12 left in the third quarter.

Damien sacked Lawhorn three times and had three interceptions, but the junior completed 16 of 27 passes for 197 yards.

John Klima

L.A. Loyola 21, Antelope Valley 19--Second-ranked Loyola beat back a furious Antelope Valley rally by blocking a 27-yard field goal with 3.6 seconds left to preserve the victory at Santa Monica College.

Jesus Cuellar, a senior defensive back, flew in from the left side and, with his forearms, blocked Johnny Walker’s field goal attempt.

The Cubs (4-0), who led, 21-0, on an 11-yard touchdown run by Bo Renaud with 2:18 left in the half, remained among the unbeaten.... barely.

Walker, a senior quarterback for Antelope Valley, rushed for 112 yards and two touchdowns in 24 carries. His 33-yard touchdown run brought the Antelopes to within 21-19 with 7:40 left.

Renaud rushed for 152 yards and three touchdowns in 25 carries, though Antelope Valley (3-1) stopped both Renaud and Loyola in the second half, giving up only 82 yards.

Mike Bresnahan

Santa Ana Foothill 28, Orange El Modena 24--Don Poole connected with receiver Yoko Hamamura for a 42-yard touchdown play with 1:02 left, completing a 21-point comeback by Foothill at Tustin High.

Foothill (4-0) trailed 21-0 at halftime and 24-8 after the third quarter.

Poole, who completed 14 of 19 passes for 326 yards and four touchdowns, threw touchdown passes of 48, 49, and 42 yards in the last quarter. Hamamura, who caught four passes for 103 yards, had two touchdown receptions. Quincy Lever had five catches for 111 yards and one touchdown.

The comeback was a reversal of the teams’ game last year, when El Modena overcame a 24-7 third-quarter deficit to win, 27-24.

Michael Pitre had 155 rushing yards and two touchdowns in 19 carries to lead El Modena (2-2). Daniel Dixon had 155 yards in 31 carries.

Peter Yoon

Sherman Oaks Notre Dame 26, Encino Crespi 7--Mike Allen kicked field goals of 39, 32, 31 and 26 yards and Brandon Clayton broke off a decisive 57-yard touchdown run to start the second half to lift host Notre Dame (4-0) in a nonleague game.

Clayton, a junior tailback, finished with 153 yards rushing in 24 carries. Crespi (3-1) was held to 56 yards total offense.

Eric Sondheimer

Fontana Kaiser 49, Lancaster Paraclete 7--Kaiser (3-0-1) avenged its only regular-season loss from last season, defeating small-school power Paraclete (3-1) at Fontana High.

Kaiser held Paraclete to a total of 75 yards of offense and ended the Spirits’ winning streak at 28 games.