There is never a good night to play a bad game in football, but when you do it and the opponent is Channel League powerhouse St. Bonaventure, the results can be truly painful.
St. Bonaventure’s Troy Hill returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown and the Seraphs scored on every possession but one Friday night in a 56-9 drubbing of Dos Pueblos at Valley Stadium.
“It was not our best effort and it was not a game to play one of our worst games,” said DP coach Jeff Uyesaka after seeing the Chargers drop to 2-7 overall and 0-4 in league. “That’s no excuse. They have a great team, but you can’t be fearful when you play them.”
To make matters worse, the Chargers suffered several significant injuries. Running back Dane Limosnero suffered a knee injury and had to be transported by cart to homecoming festivities at halftime. Defensive back Isaiha Brown suffered a probable break in his clavicle, said Uyesaka, while two other starters went out with concussions.
“It was not a good night for us,” Uyesaka repeated.
With the combination of injuries and St. Bonaventure’s expected dominance, several Charger backups had a chance to shine and they did in the fourth quarter. Senior quarterback Jack Johnson and junior running back Cody Rieck led a 12-play, 80-yard scoring drive that ended in a 6-yard touchdown run by Rieck and a PAT kick by Branden Tangle. Junior running back Anthony Houston also produced given some extra carries, rushing for 40 yards on 10 tries.
“I was proud of those guys,” said Uyesaka. “Jack really showed some composure out there. What was he, 5-for-5 (actually 3-for-3)?”
All of this, of course, is mostly a fishing expedition to find some positives amidst the wreckage of another Channel League opponent smashed by the St. Bonaventure juggernaut.
The Seraphs (8-1, 4-0 and ranked No. 1 in the CIF Northern Division) did not even have USC-bound star Patrick Hall, who was held out of practice this week to “concentrate on his studies,” according to Coach Todd Therrien. But there was hardly a need for Hall against a Dos Pueblos defense that could offer only scant resistance against St. Bonaventure’s wide array of offensive weapons.
Junior quarterback Logan Meyer was 12-for-14 for 181 yards and three touchdowns, including a 53-yard bomb lofted perfectly to Isaiah Burton despite an impending hit by two Charger linemen.
The Chargers couldn’t even really take credit for a safety earned late in the first half as Meyer set up to throw in his end zone and slipped. It was his only miscue on the night.
“Logan really did a good job of staying in there, going through his progressions and delivering the ball,” said Therrien. “He showed real pocket courage.”
Devon Blackledge added scoring runs of 11 and 7 yards and backup quarterback Tanner Souza added a 38-yard touchdown run and a 10-yard touchdown pass to Nathan Cruz.
Therrien even hinted that Souza’s hard running and darting moves operating as an option quarterback might be something that opponents may have to prepare for in the future.
“He gives us a different dimension with his running,” said Therrien. “And Logan has some girth so he could play some tight end.”
Hence, you could say that Therrien has some thinking to do in order to move his chess pieces around the board. Uyesaka, meanwhile, will be happy if he can just pick up the pieces in time for the Chargers’ season-finale at home next week against Buena.
“Our seniors will have one more chance to finish on a good note,” he said.
ST. BONAVENTURE 56, DOS PUEBLOS 9
St. Bonaventure 14 14 21 7 — 56
Dos Pueblos 0 2 0 7 — 9First quarter
SB — Hill 74 kkickoff return (Kirk kick) 11:46.
SB — Gibson 31 pass from L.Meyer (Kirk kick) 6:14.
Second quarter
SB — Blackledge 11 run (Kirk kick) 11:09.
SB — Blackledge 7 run (Kirk kick) 6:08
DP — safety, L.Meyer downed in end zone, 1:13.
Third quarter
SB — Burton 53 pass from L.Meyer (Kirk kick) 7:45.
SB — Z.Meyer 13 pass from L.Meyer (Kirk kick) 6:01.
SB — Souza 38 run (Kirk kick) 3:36.
Fourth quarter
DP — Rieck 6 run (Tangle kick) 5:36.
SB — Cruz 10 pass from Souza (Kirk kick) :40.
TEAM TOTALS SB DP
First downs 14 11
Rushes-yards 23-192 31-101
Passing yards 191 110
Comp-Att-Int 13-16-0 9-16-0
Sacks-yards lost 1-7 0-0
Punts-avg. 1-44 7-24.6
Fumbles-lost 0-0 1-1
Penalties-yards 6-50 3-9
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — St. Bonaventure: Blackledge 7-60, Langkilde 7-22, L.Meyer 1-minus-7, Rodarte 2-32, Souza 4-75, Schouder 1-5, Henderson 1-5. Dos Pueblos: Houston 10-40, Limosnero 7-3, Boytis 3-13, Parsons 6-15, Johnson 1-minus-1, Rieck 4-32.
PASSING — St. Bonaventure: L.Meyer 12-14-0-181; Souza 1-2-0-10. Dos Pueblos: Boytis 5-11-0-68; Johnson 3-3-0-34; Houston 1-2-0-8.
RECEIVING — St. Bonaventure: Rodarte 1-9, Gibson 1-31, Ledesma 2-29, Burton 2-59, Hill 1-9, Souza 1-7, Z.Meyer 3-37, Cruz 1-10. Dos Pueblos: Ibarra 1-9, Renteria 1-20, Valencia 1-8, Eccles 4-30, Parsons 1-13, Johnson 1-8.
MISSED FIELD GOALS — none.
Records: St. Bonaventure 8-1, 4-0. Dos Pueblos 2-7, 0-4.
