St. Bonaventure stuns No. 7 Westlake (Calif.) in overtime

Call it Karma or fate or just the wild, competitive nature of the vaunted Marmonte League, but St. Bonaventure (Ventura, Calif.) was somehow due.

The two-time state bowl winner needed two overtimes to stun the nation's ninth-ranked team Westlake (Westlake Village) 32-31 on Friday night.

Following a 10-yard touchdown run by Shaun Wick, St. Bonaventure coach Todd Therrien, always a gambler, went for the win and got it when Cody Kurz caught a two-point conversion pass from Marc Evans.

St. Bonaventure improved to 8-1 overall, 7-1 in league play and helped erase the memory of its only loss, a 33-32 overtime loss to Oaks Christian (Westlake Village), which fought back from a 19-0 deficit.

Westlake (8-1, 7-1) not only saw its possible state-bowl berth smashed, but also a 22-game win streak.

The Marmonte League, one of the top leagues in the country, is now in a three-way tie at the top between Westlake, St. Bonaventure and Oaks Christian.

According to the Los Angeles Times, Westlake took a brief 31-24 overtime lead on a 25-yard pass from Nick Isham to Nelson Spruce. But Wick ran in the touchdown to close to 31-30 and Kurz caught the game-winning conversion.

St. Bonaventure sacked Isham six times and twice in the fourth quarter, Westlake had the ball inside St. Bonny's 5-yard line but came away empty.

Isham, a talented dual threat signal-caller, completed 26 of 38 for 367 yards and Spruce, an athletic 6-foot-3 receiver had nine catches for 146 yards. the two hooked up for a 9-yard TD pass with 11:17 left to give Westlake a 24-21 lead in regulation.

Evans responded, leading St. Bonaventure on a 96-yard march that was capped with a 31-yard field goal from Brandon Rominger to send the game into overtime.

Evans threw for 232 yards and two touchdowns.

After St. Bonaventure was stopped from the 5 in overtime on fourth down, Westlake had a chance to win it, but a 36-yard field goal by one of the Southern Section's top kickers Alex Ball missed.

With the Marmonte teams all but out of the bowl picture, the Division I and Open Divisions seem to be now between Servite (Anaheim), Mission Viejo and Centennial (Corona), all 9-0 and all nationally ranked among the top 25. See California state bowl rankings.

See MaxPreps national rankings.

No. 16 Valley Christian stunned

Northern California's Division I bowl picture got a little less clear as favored Valley Christian (San Jose), the nation's No. 16 team according to MaxPreps.com's Freeman rankings, dropped a 14-7 West Catholic Athletic League game to host St. Francis (Mountain View).

Durell Crooks rushed 19 times for 155 yards and two touchdowns, the second on a 53-yard scamper on the first play of the fourth quarter helping the Lancers (5-3-1) to the stunning home victory over Valley Christian (8-1).

Crooks bounced off a pile in the middle of the field, sprinted right and down the sideline to break a 7-7 tie. He scored his team's first touchdown on a 1-yard run, capping a 9-play drive to open the second half.

Valley Christian took a 7-0 lead on its first possession, scoring on a 10-yard pass from Zach Vaiana to Brian Fobbs.

That is all the Warriors would get as St. Francis controlled the ball most of the second half. Valley Christian ran off just 11 plays after intermission and star running back Byron Marshall was limited to just 10 carries for 77 yards.

Despite the loss, Valley Christian remains in first place in the WCAL with a 5-1 mark, a half-game up on No. 8 Mitty (5-3-1, 4-1-1), which pulled out a wild 30-27 victory over Bellarmine (7-2, 4-2), which was a state bowl entry in Division I last season.

Serra finishes off Chaminade

According to the Los Angeles Times, Conner Preston threw for 298 yards and three touchdowns and Shaquille Richard ran for 131 yards and two scores as Serra (Gardena), ranked 11th in California and No. 67 in the nation, needed two late scores to defeat previously undefeated Chaminade (West Hills).

"They gave us a scare, I can tell you that much," Serra coach Scott Altenberg told the Times. "Once we found our comfort zone, they couldn't stop us."

The Cavaliers, the defending state Division III state bowl champions, improved to 9-0, while Chaminade dropped to 8-1.

A 63-yard bomb from Preston to speedy George Farmerr tied the game at 21-21 with 8:15 left in the game.

After a stop, Preston went deep again, this time finding Marqise Lee for a 55-yard touchdown bomb, giving Serra its first lead, 28-21 with 3:25 left. Lee had four catches for 187 yards and two scores.

Serra put some icing on the proverbial cake with an 8-yard TD run with 1:54 remaining.