Prep talk: St. Francis keeps battling after using five quarterbacks this season

If anyone deserves to be called a quarterback guru, it’s coach Dean Herrington of St. Francis High. He was the quarterback coach during his days at Hart when the Newhall school was producing one All-CIF quarterback after another. At Bishop Alemany, he coached Vernon Adams.

Herrington has never experienced what he’s endured this season going through five different quarterbacks because of injuries as St. Francis fights through an 0-4 start.

“It’s been tough,” Herrington said.

Starter Shawn Sanders went down in the first game after breaking his collarbone. Then the backup quarterback Alister Chan, a transfer from Pasadena Poly, was ruled a sit-out period player and unavailable. Third-string quarterback Ashton Gill broke his wrist. The fourth-stringer, freshman Vito Schiada, got pulled up from the freshman team. The fifth-stringer, Brady Cofre, the top athlete on the team, injured his shoulder.

So St. Francis has turned to linebacker and former quarterback for the freshman team, Luke Danni, to handle duties. St. Francis has let running back Elijah Wilson take some pressure off the quarterbacks, carrying the ball 30 and 31 times the last two games.

The good news is after Friday’s game against Loyola, St. Francis has a bye week and Sanders is expected to return for the start of Angelus League play.

This is a daily look at the positive happenings in high school sports. To submit any news, please email eric.sondheimer@latimes.com.