Football preview: Bell-Jeff vs. St. Anthony

BELL-JEFF VS. ST. ANTHONY

WHEN: 7 p.m. Saturday.

WHERE: Memorial Field (Burroughs High).

RECORDS: The Guards are 2-5, 0-1 in the Santa Fe League; the Saints are 5-2, 1-1.

LAST WEEK: Bell-Jeff lost to Salesian, 48-0; St. Anthony defeated St. Monica, 16-13.

OUTLOOK: Bell-Jeff was dealt a big blow earlier this week when it was determined that starting sophomore quarterback Johnathan Porter was lost for the season with a broken hand. Porter, a transfer from Golden Valley, passed for nearly 1,000 yards for Bell-Jeff.

The quarterback injured his hand in a nonleague game against Malibu on Oct. 5. “It had been hurting him for a while and he went to get it checked by a doctor and they said he had a break in the small bone at the bottom of his hand,” said Bell-Jeff Coach David Machuca, who is in his first year.

“They are going to have to cast the hand and eventually he’s going to have to have surgery.”

Machuca said the loss is a big blow to the team.

“It’s a huge loss for us,” he said. “Johnathan was playing well for us and he did a real good job at reading defenses.”

With Porter out, Machuca said freshman Jonathan Gales will get the start at quarterback against St. Anthony. On the bright side for Bell-Jeff is that Machuca said starting running back Josh Martinez will be back in the lineup after missing last week’s game.

St. Anthony had to go to double overtime to defeat St. Monica last week. The team has an outstanding running back in senior Latrell Flowers, who has rushed for 1,018 yards and has scored 11 touchdowns.

SOMETHING INTERESTING: The Guards rank last in the league in points allowed, giving up an average of 45.6 a game.