St. Francis football gets win, help it needs to reach playoffs

PASADENA — PASADENA — It was a nervous evening in more ways than one for the St. Francis High football team Friday night in its Angelus League season finale.

With eight potential playoff scenarios involving the Golden Knights, about the only thing that seemed certain was a victory versus host La Salle would help the odds.

Such was the case for the Golden Knights, who scored 24 straight points to rally against a gritty La Salle team in picking up a 27-14 victory at Kohorst Field.

With its third consecutive win, St. Francis improved to 7-3 overall and 3-2 in league and claimed third place in a league that only has three automatic playoff berths.

By virtue of wins Friday night, Cathedral (9-1, 4-1) and Harvard-Westlake (7-3, 4-1) share a co-league championship. St. Francis took third, a game ahead of Salesian (2-3 in league), which held a tiebreaker over the Golden Knights but lost a wild 48-44 contest to Harvard-Westlake on Friday, and St. Paul (2-3 in league).

“I knew that if we won, we had a great chance of being in,” St. Francis Coach Jim Bonds said. “We were looking at third or fourth place going into the game and it was distracting during the game because I could hear scores in the head set. The guys still played well and I’m proud of them. All I did was ask them to win.”

For a while, it seemed that even winning was a challenge, as the Golden Knights trailed, 7-6, to upset-minded La Salle (4-6, 0-5), which hasn’t won a league game in its two-year run in the Angelus League.

St. Francis, though, rallied behind a wonderful defensive effort from senior linebacker Michael Calmette, who finished with two interceptions and a forced fumble, and rushing performances from Areg Nazarian (21 carries for 137 yards) and fullback Maxx Jakeway (three touchdowns on four carries).

It was Jakeway who gave St. Francis the lead on a five-yard touchdown run with 19.8 seconds to go in the third quarter as the Golden Knights jumped ahead, 12-7, despite missing a two-point conversion try.

On La Salle’s next possession, Lancers junior Amon Milliner made the only mistake on what was an otherwise outstanding evening.

Milliner rushed for 190 yards and one touchdown on 22 carries, but was stripped by Calmette with the fumble recovered by Daniel Scott on the Lancers’ 38 with 4.4 seconds left in the third.

St. Francis cashed in the mistake as Nazarian brought the Golden Knights to the Lancers’ three-yard line on a 28-yard run that was followed by a three-yard plunge from Jakeway with 11:10 left in the game as St. Francis led, 20-7, after a successful two-point try.

“There’s no argument that we came out soft in the first half,” Nazarian said. “La Salle came out ready to play and we had to adjust to them. After we did, it was our game. Maybe we took them too lightly, but they made us play better.”

La Salle attempted one last push and marched on its next possession to the Golden Knights’ 24 before Calmette picked off a pass in the red zone.

“I don’t know what to say,” Calmette said. “The ball just came my way and I made a habit of getting it. I wasn’t really thinking, it just happened. I was more proud of this team in general coming back and winning the game.”

Eventually, both sides added a score each with Jakeaway punching in a nine-yard touchdown to give St. Francis a 27-7 lead that was countered by a 22-yard touchdown pass from R’mon Huff to Cole Sochinski for La Salle.

The Golden Knights trailed, 7-6, in a quick first half highlighted by a few big plays.

La Salle took its first lead, 7-3, on a 68-yard touchdown run from Milliner with 5:04 left in the first half.

St. Francis responded with kicker Dulles Hanula converting a 33-yard field goal with 54.6 seconds left to bring the Golden Knights within 7-6.

The drive, which was stunted on a critical Golden Knights’ drop in the red zone, was one of two successful marches for St. Francis in the first half.

The Golden Knights opened the contest with a nine-play, 60-yard drive that also concluded with a 25-yard field goal from Hanula at 6:28 in the first that gave St. Francis a 3-0 lead.

On defense, the Golden Knights also turned in a big play when a double-pass attempt by the Lancers at the Golden Knights’ five was batted in the air and intercepted by Calmette.