Football: Serra makes a splash in Mission League opener

There were some who doubted whether or not Gardena Serra could actually play with the likes of the many formidable opponents in the re-aligned, seven-team Mission League. Chances are, those skeptics were nearly turned into believers on Friday night.

The Cavaliers made a statement against visiting Sherman Oaks Notre Dame. They led by double digits for a majority of the game, in fact. And the end result was a rather impressive 28-23 victory in an all-important league opener that proved some naysayers wrong.

“We heard the things said about us. Did it bother me, or, my teammates? I’m not sure. Everyone has an opinion, I can respect that. Still, we had something to prove,” said Serra’s John Houston Jr., a 6-foot-3, 218-pound senior and one of the nation’s premier linebacker prospects.

With Houston leading the the way on defense, and fellow well-known upperclassmen such as Stanley “Scrappy” Norman and Rasheem Green doing their respective jobs, Serra (4-1, 1-0) made things difficult on the Knights (3-1, 0-1).

“Anyone who thought that we were not up for the challenge in league, think again,” Norman said. “It’s about taking things to the next level and tonight was the first step. We had enough of the talk. It was time to go out and show what we can do.”

In other league action Friday night, West Hills Chaminade defeated Los Angeles Loyola, 24-7, and Encino Crespi defeated La Puente Bishop Amat, 32-21, in an overtime thriller. Mission Hills Alemany did not play. Serra travels to Bishop Amat next week.

Sean Ceglinsky has covered sports in the Southland for the better part of the past 15-plus years. Follow him on Twitter: @SeanCeglinsky