Running back Brett Burress rushed for over 100 yards to help lead St. Joseph to a 27-6 win over Sunnyside in the first round of CIF-SS Division 2 playoffs.
Burress scored the opening touchdown of the game on the ground to put St. Joseph in front 6-0. Quarterback Hunter Barnhart rushed one in on the next possession pushing its lead to 12-0.
Sunnyside would connect on a 64-yard touchdown bomb to be back within six but a bad snap on a punt followed by a two-point conversion run by Burress put the Knights up 20-6, which was the halftime score.
In the second half, a 62-yard run from Darien Langley put St. Joseph in front, 27-6. From there, the Knights played punishing defense and held tough to win by 21.
With the win, St. Joseph (8-3) has now won six straight contests and will now travel to face Redwood (10-1) next Friday in the quarterfinals.
CULVER CITY 34, BISHOP DIEGO 6
Bishop Diego struck first, but top-seeded Culver City struck often in their CIF Division 5 football playoff opener.
Zevi Eckhaus threw three touchdowns in the first half and another to start the second, rallying the undefeated Centaurs to a 34-6 victory over the visiting Cardinals.
Eckhaus, only a junior, now has 103 passing touchdowns over the last two years.
Bishop (5-6) actually forced Culver City (11-0) to punt after its first possession — only the 13th time it’s had to kick all season.
The Cardinals followed that up by driving 50 yards on 11 plays to their lone TD. Adrian Soracco scored on a fourth-down run from the two-yard line with 3:32 left in the first quarter.
Soracco, playing the final game of his four-year varsity career, wound up with 97 yards rushing on 21 carries. He ran for 1,100 yards on the season.
The game took a left turn for Bishop, however, when its extra-point kick hooked left of the goalposts.
The Centaurs tied the game less than three minutes later, with Eckhaus capping the quick drive with a seven-yard TD pass to Dylan Clark. A botched snap on the conversion play kept the score knotted at 6-all.
Culver City needed just three more minutes to take the lead, however, with Eckhaus throwing a 30-yard TD pass to Chris Miller.
When Bishop finally threw its first pass of the night, the Centaurs intercepted it to set up their third score. Eckhaus connected with Tanner Duve on a 35-yard TD to put them ahead 20-6 with 2:58 to go in the second period.
Duve caught another scoring pass from Eckhaus from 18 yards out with 8:01 remaining in the third period.
A mishandled punt snap set up Culver City’s final TD. Mekhi Evans-Bey cashed in the field position with a one-yard scoring plunge.
The 34 points, however, marked the Centaurs’ second-lowest total of the season. Bishop held their rushing attack to just 120 yards. Eckhaus completed 23-of-34 passes for 260 yards.
Bishop rushed 36 times for 138 yards but gained only 26 yards through the air, completing six of 13 passes.
CRESPI 49, DOS PUEBLOS 14
The Celts jumped out to a 35-0 halftime lead in their Division 6 playoff victory in Encino.
Quarterback Sloan Senofsky scored the first TD on a 12-yard run and threw a 24-yard scoring pass to Evan Davidson in just the first four minutes of the game.
DP (3-8) didn’t score until just a minute remained in the third quarter, with Trent Jones throwing a 60-yard TD pass to Baylor Huyck.
Udy Loza scored the Chargers’ final TD on a 10-yard run with a minute remaining.
GLENDORA 49, LOMPOC 17
Five turnovers doomed Lompoc in its CIF-SS Division 5 playoff game against Glendora, resulting in a 32-point loss on Friday.
Head Coach Andrew Jones said the Braves were in the game in the second quarter, but turnovers and penalties made the hill to steep to climb back from. The Braves were driving down 14-7 when quarterback Calvin Ross threw an interception that was taken back for a touchdown.
Lompoc was down 27-10 at the half.
“The way that we played today was very similar to how our season went. We were up and down and inconsistent and at the end of the day, that is on me. I didn’t do a good enough job to get them to play consistently. We had some injuries but at the end of the day, there are no excuses,” Jones said.
Lompoc ends its season 7-4 overall and finished in second place in the Channel League.
STOCKDALE 34, RIGHETTI 24
Senior quarterback Logan Mortensen tossed three touchdown passes on Friday for Righetti, but it would not be enough as the Warriors season comes to an end following a 10-point loss in Friday’s CIF-SS Division 2 first-round match.
The Warriors were playing from behind seemingly the whole game as they could never stop a strong rushing attack from Stockdale.
Righetti held an early lead in the game at 7-6 after Mortensen connected on a 54-yard touchdown pass but never led again in the contest.
Down 27-17, Mortensen found Casey Daniels in traffic for a score to put them within three in the middle stages of the fourth quarter.
On the ensuing possession, the Warriors forced a turnover on downs with 4:48 left giving them a chance to tie or win the ball game.
After a holding penalty back Righetti up, Mortensen threw an interception that was returned for a touchdown, essentially ending the contest.
Righetti ends its season 7-4 overall losing in four of its final five contests.
ROBERT F. KENNEDY 40 SANTA MARIA 22
Santa Maria was up 10-7, but Kennedy High ripped off 33 of the next 45 points to hand the Saints an 18-point loss in the first round of the CIF-SS Division Division 4 playoffs.
Up 14-10 at the break, Kennedy’s Avian Pesina broke free for a 53-yard score to put his team in front 21-10.
Santa Maria responded with a rushing touchdown on the next possession to pull back within a score but again the Thunderbirds scored to take a 28-16 lead into the fourth.
Kennedy would lead 40-16 before Santa Maria scored its final touchdown with under a minute left.
The Saints end their season 5-6 overall.
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