SAN MATEO, CA - Serra junior quarterback Hunter Bishop went up against his former classmates for the first time and the result was a hard-fought 14-2 that gave the host Padres sole possession of first place in the West Catholic Athletic League.
Bishop, who spent his first two years of high school as the St. Francis JV quarterback, completed 14-of-22 passes for 165 yards to lead Serra (4-2, 3-0) over St. Francis (4-2, 2-1) Saturday afternoon.
“I can’t imagine what that was like for [Hunter],” Serra coach Patrick Walsh said. “I was very impressed with how he handled himself. It was very mature performance by him. I know he’s only going to get better from here.”
Saturday’s game marked a significant improvement for Bishop, who threw for just 37 yards and two interceptions against St. Ignatius on Oct. 10. That was his first game for the Padres as he was ineligible for their first four games due to the transfer.
“[Bishop] is going to do what’s in their system now,” St. Francis coach Greg Calcagno said. “We prepared for Serra’s quarterback and Serra’s offense. We had one week of him being there and we were able to scout that. Nothing was a big surprise, they just did a good job executing.”
Said Bishop: “I knew some of their tendencies from my time there, so that definitely helped, but it was a tough battle the whole time."
The Lancers struggled to get the ball moving on offense, punting eight times and throwing three interceptions. Injuries in their backfield thrust junior running back Lutoviko Ahoia into the spotlight.
Ahoia rushed 15 times for 45 yards, almost doubling his total touches from last week’s victory against Archbishop Mitty.
Meanwhile, Serra’s offense also had to deal with the injury bug. Sophomore running back Leki Nunn was expected to get the bulk of the carries after rushing for 207 yards and three touchdowns last week, but he left the game in the third quarter with a sprained ankle and did not return.
Nunn’s injury forced the Padres to get the ball moving through the air in the second half, which eventually led to both of their touchdowns in the fourth quarter, a 2-yard run by sophomore running back T.C. Lavulo to make it 6-2 and a 2-yard vault into the end zone by junior Kelepi Lataimua (preceding James Outman's 2-point conversion grab) to give Serra a 12-point lead.
“We sped up a little bit and used the heat to our advantage,” said Walsh. “We’re a tempo-based team and we weren’t like that at all in the first half, but they did a really good job against our double wing [formation].”
On defense the Padres got a key interception from Lataimua in the fourth quarter to seal the game. The Lancers were driving with a chance to make it a one-possession game when the Padre defensive line forced junior Lancer quarterback Kamalii Akina out of the pocket. Lataimua intercepted Akina's attempt to throw the ball away, clinching the victory for the Padres. It was the play-making junior's second quick-handed theft -- the first setting up Lavulo's TD.
“Our D-line put pressure on the quarterback every play. He really had no choice but to just throw it up at the end,” said Lataimua.
Serra, the only unbeaten team in league now, hosts Riordan on October 25. St. Francis hosts Valley Christian on Friday.
Dominic Scarpino (29) and TC Lavulo (7) | Kate Collins/Prep2Prep |
