Bishop Diego was in peak form Friday night in its CIF East Valley Division playoff opener.
The Cardinals clicked on both sides of the ball in romping to a 35-0 win over Brentwood in a first-round game at La Playa Stadium.
The defense forced seven turnovers and held the Eagles to a mere 132 yards in total offense.
When Bishop had the ball, it overpowered Brentwood with a punishing ground game. Brandon Gonzalez rushed for 169 yards and two touchdowns, and caught a scoring pass from quarterback Nolan Tisdale. Jack Gregson added 98 yards and scored a pair of touchdowns in the first half, as the Frontier League champions built a 21-0 lead against the third-place team from the Alpha League.
Nic Mon intercepts a Brentwood pass in the first quarter. Bishop would go on to intercept Brentwood five times on the night. (Vince Agapito photo)
The fourth-seeded Cardinals (10-1) will hit the long road for their second-round game, traveling to Twentynine Palms on the Friday after Thanksgiving. Brentwood ended the year at 5-6.
“Right from the start, they got after it,” Bishop defensive coordinator Ralph Molina said of his unit.
The Cardinals allowed Brentwood only two first downs in the first half and six for the game. The line, led by Thomas Renick, John Samson and Reese Moulton, put constant pressure on Brentwood quarterback Connor Boggs, and the secondary held his favorite receiver, Garrett Swanky, to just four catches.
“We did a good job on our homework,” Molina said. “The kids spent a lot of time watching film on these guys. We knew they were going to try to run a lot of stuff outside, and our guys, that’s one thing we do a good job of, we stop the outside stuff.”
The secondary was stellar, picking off five passes. Anthony Carter had a pair of interceptions and Nic Mon, Gabe Molina and Gregson had the others.
“The secondary just stepped up and took away (Swanky), their best player,” coach Molina said. “I thought we did a really good job. It sure was nice having Anthony Carter back — he gets two interceptions. Paul Garcia is back. They did a good job containing (Swanky).”
“We knew their bread and butter is throwing the ball and also trying to get to the outside,” Bishop head coach Tom Crawford said. “We’re pretty comfortable that we have good team speed to the outside to stop the perimeter stuff. This may be our best game in getting pressure on the quarterback and making him uneasy.”
The Bishop offensive line also dominated.
“The last two games I been so pleased with our offensive line in terms of blocking and the way they are working,” said Crawford.
In particular, the right side of Renick at guard and sophomore tackle Joe Salcedo blew apart Brentwood’s defense, allowing Gonzalez, Gregson and other Bishop ball carriers to pick up good yardage all night.
“Those two guys have started to connect in terms of communicating and getting a feel for one another,” said Crawford of Renick and Salcedo.
Brandon Gonzalez rushed for 169 yards and scored three touchdowns in Bishop's playoff win over Brentwood.
Bishop was unable to capitalize on their first takeaway of the game, a fumble recovery by Gabe Molina on Brentwood’s first possession of the game. The Cardinals missed a 37-yard field goal attempt.
They made Brentwood pay on its next turnover, an interception by Mon, who timed the ball perfectly and stepped in front of the Eagles receiver.
Justin Brosnan gained 26 yards on a screen pass from Tisdale and caught a 17-yard pass to set up 1-yard touchdown run by Gregson over the right side of the line at the 3:57 mark of the first quarter.
A 67-yard run by Gregson put the Cardinals at the Brentwood 3, but an interception by the Eagles’ Jacob Woocher thwarted the scoring chance.
The running of Gonzalez and Gregson led to the second touchdown. Gregson would do the scoring honors on a 15-yard burst up the middle at 4:10 of the second quarter.
The Bishop defense forced a fumble on Brentwood’s first play after the kickoff and Moulton recovered at the 21. On third and four, Tisdale found a wide open Gonzalez for a 15-yard scoring pass, giving the Cardinals 21-0 lead at halftime.
Tisdale had another efficient night throwing the ball, completing 7 of 10 passes for 100 yards.
Gonzalez scored twice more in the third quarter on runs of 15 and 36 yards to put the game away.
Brentwood…0 0 0 0 — 0
Bishop Diego…7 14 14 0 — 35
First quarter
BD—Gregson 1 run (Brosnan kick), 3:57
Second quarter
BD—Gregson 15 run (Brosnan kick), 4:10
BD—Gonzalez 15 pass from Tisdale (Brosnan kick), 2:40
Third quarter
BD—Gonzalez 15 run (Brosnan kick), 4:46
BD—Gonzalez 36 run (Brosnan kick), :51
