Football: Bishop Amat becomes favorite in the Mission League

When you knock off Gardena Serra and Alemany in back-to-back games, people take notice. Bishop Amat (4-3, 2-1) has thrust itself into the favorite’s role in the Mission League.

The big question is now that the Lancers have shown they can play with the big boys, will they be able to focus and beat the remaining teams that might not be as highly regarded as Serra and Alemany were?

Chaminade, Loyola and Sherman Oaks Notre Dame are the only schools left in the regular season for the Lancers.

Leading the rise of Bishop Amat has been its defense. Alemany’s high-powered offense got shut down on Friday in a 47-20 defeat, because the Lancers kept blitzing and the Warriors never could figure out what to do.

“They kicked our butts. No excuses,” Alemany Coach Dean Herrington said.

Offensively, few teams in Southern California have a better receiving duo than Trevon Sidney and Trevor Vaughns. Vaughns has 33 catches for 455 yards and six touchdowns. Sidney has 15 receptions for 296 and one touchdown. Both are juniors with growing number of scholarship offers, because they’re also key defensive backs. The beneficiary has been junior quarterback Damian Garcia.

Bishop Amat was thought to be a year away from being a top team. Its juniors were part of an unbeaten freshman team. But wins over Serra and Alemany in consecutive weeks move the Lancers into position that gives them an opportunity to seize the moment. We’ll see if it happens. They pretty much control their own destiny now.

Twitter:@LATSondheimer