Bishop Diego stayed with powerful Sierra Canyon for a quarter before the third-seeded team in the CIF Northwest Division playoffs opened up its explosive passing game and pulled away to a 48-17 first-round win Friday night at Granada Hills High.
“They’re a very talented team,” Bishop assistant coach Matt Capritto said. “They have a big quarterback, great receivers, tall receivers and a fast running back. They’re going to be tough to stop.”
The Trailblazers were ranked first in the division until the final week of the regular season, after they lost the Alpha League title game to No. 1 Paraclete.
The Cardinals got a touchdown from quarterback Andrew Saucier on an 11-yard run to cap a nice drive in the first quarter. That cut the score to 14-7.
Sierra Canyon blocked a Bishop punt and scored two plays later for its first touchdown and scored again on a pass from 6-4 quarterback Tyler Stewart.
The Trailblazers added two more touchdowns in the second quarter to lead 28-7 at halftime.
Stewart had a solid game, completing 10 of 20 passes for 225 yards and four TDs. Julian Brooks had 133 receiving yards and two scores.
Bishop got a 32-yard field goal from Mike Morando in the third quarter and a 3-yard touchdown run from Brandon Gonzalez in the fourth.
Gonzalez rushed for 41 yards on seven carries.
“Our guys played really hard to the end,” Capritto said. “We were able to run the ball against them, which says a lot about our offensive line.”
Capritto was proud at how the Cardinals never let up despite the score.
“Our guys didn’t quit,” he said. “They executed the game plan and played their butts off.”
He noted that at the end of the game senior lineman Dakotah Sutton told the returning players it was now their responsibility to get Bishop back to winning playoff games.
“He challenged the underclassmen and said they should remember this feeling and do not let this feeling happen again,” Capritto said.
Bishop ends the year at 5-6.
