Bellarmine, after a clutch WCAL victory versus Serra last Saturday, continued its dominant season with a 16-7 win over rival St. Francis Friday night at San Jose City College.
The Bells (6-1, 4-0 WCAL) opened the season with a lopsided 41-7 loss to powerhouse De La Salle, but have clearly rebounded from there, winning six straight.
The game started with a Bellarmine nine-minute, 95 yard-drive with running back Joey Sanfilippo capping the march with a 4-yard touchdown run to put the Bells ahead 7-0.
Bellarmine established a strong rushing attack early, with multiple carries by running backs Sanfilippo, Kenneth Olugbode, and Austin Changras, along with Vanderbilt-bound junior quarterback K.J. Carta-Samuels.
Olugbode praised the work of his offensive line against a stubborn St. Francis defense.
“I think the O-line did great," he said. "Credit to them because St. Francis would shift over to one side and we were still able to push the pile back and get some yards every single play.”
Sanfilippo also appreciated the astounding effort by the offensive line.
“They did a great job," he said. "The O-line was phenomenal tonight. That’s what kept those drives going. They were pushing the ball and pounding it.”
At the end of the 1st quarter, the Bells led 7-0. St. Francis tried to get their running game going in the second quarter with running plays and direct snaps to running back Landon Baty. But the Lancers found it difficult to pierce the sturdy Bell defense, with the score standing at 7-0 as the half ended.
St. Francis received the ball first in the second half and moved well on the ground with Baty making some strong runs. After getting into field-goal range, kicker Patrick Fordham missed a 30 yard field goal to keep the score 7-0 Bellarmine.
On the second play of the ensuing drive, running back Sanfilippo followed the blocks of his offensive linemen and ran down the sideline for a 75-yard touchdown.
With Bellarmine leading 13-0, the Lancers responded with a phenomenal drive of their own with quarterback Mike Lauck hitting receivers Charlie Clarke and Austin Woodard multiple times, capped by a fourth-and-goal touchdown reception by Austin Guibor to pull the Lancers a bit closer at 13-7.
Then it was the Bells' turn and St. Francis nearly had a third-down stop, but a personal foul, horse-collar tackle moved the Bells closer to the end zone.
Throughout the drive, Bellarmine went back to their potent running attack with numerous carries by Sanfilippo and Olugbode capped off by a 27-yard field goal by Grant Bush.
St. Francis tried to hang in there, but ended up turning the ball over on downs on its next possession.
Sanfilippo could not be happier after a hard-fought victory in a huge rivalry game.
“I feel great," he said. "We came out and we both fought hard. We’re rolling as a team, and we’re coming together.”
Bellarmine travels to J.B. Murphy Field in San Francisco on Saturday, Oct. 27 to face another hot team in St. Ignatius in a battle for sole possession of first place in the West Catholic Athletic League.
St. Francis (3-4, 2-2 WCAL) will host Riordan on Friday night at 7:30pm.
