Paraclete rolls past Moorpark for Southern Section Division 5 football title

Princeton-bound quarterback Brevin White completed 16 of 27 passes for 189 yards and four touchdowns to lead Lancaster Paraclete to a 49-28 win over Moorpark in the CIF Southern Section Division 5 championship.

Andre Hunt caught six passes for 92 yards and two touchdowns and ran for a third, and Melquan Stovall added seven catches for 70 yards and one touchdown for the top-seeded Spirits (13-1), last year’s Division 3-AA state champions.

Blake Sturgill completed 16 of 27 passes for 198 yards and four touchdowns for Moorpark (11-3), which had gone five seasons without a playoff victory but, under first-year coach Ryan Huisenga, advanced to its first section final since 2009.

Sturgill, a sophomore who entered the game with nearly 3,000 yards passing and 32 touchdowns, wasted no time adding to his impressive totals, throwing a four-yard touchdown pass to Christian Teixeira to give the host Musketeers a 7-0 lead late in the first quarter.

Paraclete scored four unanswered touchdowns in a 10-minute span of the second quarter to take command. First, White connected with Hunt for a 36-yard touchdown.

After Hunt intercepted a tipped pass at Moorpark’s 35-yard line, he ended a nine-play drive with a three-yard sweep that gave the Spirits the lead for good.

White threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to Amir Bankhead and a 30-yard strike to Hunt to make it 28-7 with 1:30 left in the firsthalf. Bankhead, who finished with 195 yards in 19 carries, put the game away with a 55-yard touchdown run on Paraclete’s first drive of the second half and added a 71-yard scoring run late in the third.

—Steve Galluzzo

Rancho Verde 44, St. Francis 42: Sophomore Luis Santiago kicked a 37-yard field goal with no time left to lift visiting Moreno Valley Rancho Verde in the CIF Southern Section Division 3 championship.

Rancho Verde (12-2), which won its first title since a 2011 Central Section championship, racked up huge offensive numbers to defeat St. Francis (12-2), which was in its first title game since winning it all in 1964.

Sophomore quarterback Brock White completed 22 of 39 passes for 504 yards and four touchdowns, including a 64-yarder to Kamryn Woodson (seven catches for 132 yards, two TDs for a 41-35 lead with 2:10 to play. But the extra point was missed.

Quarterback Darius Perrantes (two passing TDs, two rushing TDs) navigated St. Francis downfield and running back Kevin Armstead (two TDs) scored on a three-yard run to give the Golden Knights their first lead at 42-41 with 1:01 left.

—Grant Gordon

eric.sondheimer@latimes.com

Twitter: @latsondheimer