With 30 seconds remaining in the first half, Bishop Diego defensive back AV Bennett picked off a tipped pass and raced 58 yards for a touchdown.
Eight seconds later, Bennett would intercept another pass from the visiting View Park Knights of Los Angeles en route to a 37-6 Cardinals victory at La Playa Stadium.
Head coach Tom Crawford pointed to Bennett’s touchdown as huge spark for his team. “Putting points on the board before halftime was huge,” he said. “It really deflated the other team.”
A humble Bennett said that the interception was a team effort. “My teammate Daniel Molina tipped the pass and I caught it,” he said. “After that, I saw a bunch of guys that had my jersey on and just kept running.”
Plays like Bennett’s were only the tip of the iceberg in a game that the Cardinals absolutely dominated. After forcing a quick View Park punt to open the first half, the Cardinals took the field and never looked back.
Bishop Diego’s opening drive took less than three minutes and featured four consecutive first downs. Cardinals quarterback Spencer Stovesand connected with Dylan Perez for a 20-yard touchdown pass to put Bishop Diego up 7-0 midway through the 1st quarter.
The rest of the first half featured a heavy dose of Bishop Diego’s classic rushing attack. The Cardinals (6-0) ran the ball nine straight times and marched deep into Knights’ territory. Running back Abel Gonzalez dragged several View Park defenders for 19 yards to give Bishop Diego a first and goal.
Crawford named Gonzalez as one of the team’s main leaders. “He’s the seasoned guy, and he picks up a lot of tough yards,” Crawford said. “Every time it looked like they had him, he would put that arm down and stay up.”
Gonzalez finished the game with 101 rushing yards and a score.
A rare missed field goal would keep the score at 7-0, but not before chewing up five minutes of clock time.
The Cardinals’ “running back by committee” approach did its damage as three different running backs accounted for most of the team’s 377 total rushing yards.
“We’re fortunate to have three guys,” Crawford said. “They’re all slightly different, but are all starters. They run hard, and rotating them keeps them fresh.”
Stovesand was also effective on the ground, scrambling eight yards on a crucial fourth down attempt to keep a promising Cardinals drive alive. Stovesand’s helped set up a 28-yard touchdown run by freshman John Harris to extend Bishop’s lead to 14-0 late in the second half.
The Cardinals’ also did a good job of containing View Park’s offense. The Cardinals’ pass rush was relentless the entire night, and picked off the Knights three different times.
After a scary Cardinals’ fumble on just the second play after halftime, the Bishop defense held the Knights on 4th and 1 to give the Cardinals the ball back. The defensive stop helped boost a Cardinals’ drive that featured nine straight run plays before kicking a field goal to go up 24-0 late in the 3rd quarter.
The Cardinals’ defense then forced another View Park three-and-out less than a minute later to set up another scoring drive. Bishop Diego marched down the field again, with Abel Gonzalez capping the drive off with a 7-yard touchdown run resulting in a 30-0 score.
The 4th quarter would include freshman Cardinals running back John Harris carrying the ball on nearly every play. One scoring drive featured Harris rushing six times for 87 yards and a touchdown to make the score 37-0.
Harris was the only Cardinals running back to touch the ball for the entire series. He finished the game with 155 yards and two touchdowns.
After the game Coach Crawford commented on his choice to schedule the defending LA City Section Division 3 champions, who also participated in last season’s regional bowl game. “We’re looking for good competition,” he said. “We need to play against guys that are tough and athletic, and these guys were a great matchup.”
Bishop Diego will travel to Reedley next week for a showdown with undefeated Immanuel.
