Football: There’s no let up in the final week of the season
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Finally, it’s week 16 of the high school football season. Everything ends after Friday and Saturday night in Carson, with the CIF state championship bowl games.
The Open Division final at 8 p.m. at the StubHub Center between St. John Bosco (15-0) and Concord De La Salle (14-0) couldn’t have produced a better matchup. Fans wanting to know who has the advantage will only need to check to see the rushing stats at the end of the game.
It’s going to come down to competition in the trenches and look for players from both teams to be lifting weights as usual this week in preparation. Strength will be a key. It’s strength against strength.
De La Salle had a pair of running backs who rushed for more than 100 yards in its regional win over Folsom. John Velasco gained 144 yards and scored four touchdowns. Sophomore Antoine Custer gained 149 yards. For St. John Bosco, sophomore running back Sean McGrew gained 367 yards and scored seven touchdowns in its regional win against Corona Centennial.
Both teams want to run the ball first because it sets up their passing game, but the defensive line that is most effective in denying the big play and forcing the pass could be decisive.
In the Division II game between West Hills Chaminade (13-2) and Enterprise (13-0), it’s once again going to be about imposing will up front. Enterprise’s Izzy Matthews, a 205-pound running back, carried the ball 33 times for 165 yards in a regional win. Chaminade turned to its power pitch game against Hart, handing the ball off again and again to Donovan Lee and Cory Watkins running behind 300-pound Bar Milo.
In the Division III game, Atherton Sacred-Heart (13-1) wants to run the ball with Ben Burr-Kirven, who had 160 yards rushing and three touchdowns in its regional win. Corona del Mar (15-0), with a 25-game win streak, can run or pass behind quarterback Luke Napolitano.
In the Division I game, Bakersfield (12-2) is a running machine with quarterback Asauni Rufus at 1,647 yards rushing and 29 touchdowns. Loomis Del Oro (13-2) has running back Dylan Kainwath, who’s at 1,890 yards rushing.
In the Division IV game, Bakersfield Christian (12-2) and Modesto Central Catholic (14-1) have strong defenses.
Are you getting some hints what it’s going to take to win games this weekend? The answer: stop the run.
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