St. Bonaventure Wins Another Title

Junior running back Michael Lee gained 144 yards in 21 carries, including one for a 60-yard touchdown, to lead top-seeded Ventura St. Bonaventure to a 27-7 victory over third-seeded Moorpark in the Division IV final Friday at Ventura High.

Lee, whose touchdown gave St. Bonaventure a 20-7 halftime advantage, carried eight consecutive times for 46 yards on the Seraphs’ last possession to finish with a flourish, just like his team, which won its sixth section title in seven consecutive final appearances.

St. Bonaventure (14-0) has won 24 consecutive games and 95 of its last 98.

Senior quarterback Matt Evans completed 11 of 16 passes for 161 yards and two touchdowns -- a six-yard scoring pass to Ricky Garcia and a 44-yard touchdown strike to Michael Williams that gave the Seraphs their final margin of victory with 2:12 to go in the third quarter.

Sophomore Darrell Scott finished with 93 yards in 22 carries for Moorpark (10-4).

-- Lauren Peterson

Norco 28, Lake Elsinore Temescal Canyon 14 -- Toby Gerhart, who became the state career rushing leader this year, led the fourth-seeded Cougars past third-seeded Temescal Canyon in the Division V final at Norco High, giving him his first section title in three championship-game appearances.

Gerhart rushed for 256 yards in 26 carries and scored all four touchdowns for Cougars (13-1), who won their first title since 1998.

“I finally got it,” said Gerhart, who went from fifth to third on the national rushing list with 9,651 yards.

Junior running back Chris Pesaniello rushed for 190 yards in 36 carries and scored both touchdowns for Temescal Canyon (12-2).

-- Dan Arritt

Covina South Hills 41, Orange 16 -- Quarterback Kevin Mort passed for 178 yards and four touchdowns for the second-seeded Huskies in the Division VII championship at Covina District Stadium.

Daniel Burkholder recovered a fumble on the opening kickoff for South Hills (12-2), which scored touchdowns on its first six possessions en route to its third title in four years.

Mort completed 12 of 15 passes and had touchdown throws of 15, 27, seven and nine yards. Marquies Winbush rushed for 121 yards and two touchdowns in 17 carries for the Huskies.

Daniel Chairez caught a 63-yard touchdown pass and rushed for 110 yards and a touchdown in 20 carries for the Panthers (11-3), who were making their first appearance in a title game since 1989.

-- Ben Bolch

Santa Margarita Tesoro 27, Irvine Northwood 6 -- A top-seeded Tesoro team that for most of the season relied on its high-powered offense turned to its defense and won its second consecutive Division IX title at Orange Coast College.

Tesoro (13-1) capitalized on two early Northwood turnovers -- a 49-yard fumble return for a touchdown by Jordan Woolbright and a fumble recovery on Northwood’s next play from scrimmage at the Northwood 13 that set up another touchdown and gave Tesoro a 14-3 lead with 4:11 left in the first quarter.

Northwood drove inside the Tesoro 15 four times -- three times inside the 10 -- but came away with only two field goals.

Quarterback Todd Sciacqua completed 14 of 24 passes for 228 yards and two touchdowns with two interceptions for Tesoro. Garrett Beck had nine catches for 147 yards and a touchdown, and kicker Joe Robles had field goals of 23 and 50 yards.

Northwood (12-2) lost starting quarterback Stuart Sharpe with a knee injury in the first quarter. The Timberwolves’ offense never recovered. Backup Travis Toon completed 13 of 29 passes for 124 yards. Alex Metskas had field goals of 35 and 21 yards.

-- Peter Yoon

Encino Crespi 24, Lompoc 14 -- Josh Morgan rushed for 84 yards and two touchdowns in 24 carries at Lompoc to lead the top-seeded Celts (11-3) to their second straight Division X championship.

Crespi capitalized on a turnover to take control of the game one minute before halftime. With Lompoc driving, running back Joseph Scott caught a shovel pass at Crespi’s 36-yard line but was stripped of the ball by D.J. Holt, who returned it to the Lompoc 45. Four plays later, Matt Gray caught a 17-yard touchdown pass from Matt Wabby that increased Crespi’s lead to 17-7.

Lompoc finished 10-4.

-- Steve Galluzzo