Friars become favorite for Open Division; Westlake, Crenshaw, Oceanside, Chaparral all hoping to benefit from Servite win.
They have played the toughest schedule of opponents in the state, and on Saturday night, Anaheim Servite took on Mother Nature as well.
The Friars beat her, too.
Behind quarterback Cody Fajardo and a defense that limited top-seeded Huntington Beach Edison to only one score, second-seeded Servite won the rain-soaked Southern Section Pac-5 Division title with a 16-6 victory. 
Servite's Cody Fajardo was in control throughout on Saturday.
File photo by Heston Quan
It was the Friars' fourth title but their first championship since winning back-to-back in 1982 and 1983, the school's so-called glory years when the quarterback was Steve Beurlein.
The victory by Servite (13-1) avenged its only loss of the season; Edison (13-1) defeated the Friars, 23-9, on Sept.25.
In a game in which yardage was scarce, Servite managed to piece together enough big plays to beat a team that had not lost during the summer passing leagues or 13 games in the fall. Though Servite had the toughest schedule around, Edison's was right here in a battle of respectful heavyweights who played the first half in a downpour and the second half in a quagmire at Angel Stadium.
That was fine with Servite, though. “We were hoping for rain,” said Servite Coach Troy Thomas, knowing that it could affect the many offensive weapons of Edison.
It did.
“They deserved to win,” said Edison Coach Dave White, whose team practiced with a wet ball during the week but couldn't possibly have replicated the conditions of Saturday night. “They played better than us. It was the same conditions for both teams, they just handled it better than we did. We're a finesse team, we throw the ball all over the place. It's hard in the pouring rain when it's slippery. It's one of those nights. It wasn't meant to be.”
The statistical log was almost comical. Edison's Matt Viles, who averaged 239 yards passing, was 1 for 5 for five for five yards in the first half. He completed more than 67 percent of his passes during the season with 23 touchdown passes and six interceptions, but on Saturday finished only 9 of 28 for 82 yards, and 42 came on one play – a pass that set up the Chargers' only score, a one-yard pass to Jordan Zumwalt on an eight-play, 20-yard drive.
That's right, eight plays to go 20 yards.
The point-after was blocked and Servite had a 10-6 lead with 11:13 left in the fourth quarter.
“It was tough out there,” Viles said, not offering any excuses. “They shut us down all night. They deserved this one.”
With 5:45 left in the game, Edison put all its hopes in one possession. Beginning at its own 4-yard line, the Chargers converted a fourth-and-inches from their own 29, and then a fourth-and-two at their own 39, before finally running out of lightning bolts.
On fourth-and 10 from their 46, Viles' pass to Luke Eddy fell a couple feet short as Servite DB Jordan Jones wedged himself between Eddy and the ball.
Two plays later, Chris Nicholls escaped around the right side and scored on a 54-yard run with 1:55 left. The point-after was blocked by Jeff Trojan, but the final score was established, 16-6.
The key player throughout was the playmaker Fajardo, who proved this season he could beat opponents running or passing. He beat Edison doing both, especially in the first half when a Fajardo run seemed the safest and most efficient way to move the ball.
Fajardo is reminiscent of another championship winning quarterback, Aaron Corp, of Orange Lutheran.
“We played against Corp, and he's a dangerous dud running and passing, and I do believe Cody is that type of guy,” said Troy Thomas, who took over the Servite program in 2005 after leaving Encino Crespi. “On a field like this, you want a guy who can do both, get himself out of trouble and make some plays.
“We've known he's a special guy. When the pressure's on, this kid performs.”
Fajardo completed eight of 15 passes for 83 yards and one touchdown, and ran 20 times for 95.
“This team plays well together and believes in each other,” Fajardo said. “It was a great season, we played the toughest teams that gave us a battle week in and week out. It was really amazing.”
Fajardo's biggest individual play came out of the shotgun in the first quarter, when he bobbled the slippery ball, then peeled off to his left and sprinted 46 yards to the 2-yard line. The handoff on the next play was fumbled and Servite's Connor Loftus eventually kicked a 24-yard field goal.
That was the only scoring in the first half, even though Loftus had other chances: He missed field goal attempts from 40 and 30 yards, and had a 30-yarder blocked by Jeff Trojan with 2:59 left in the half; that last one came after an illegal shift negated a 25-yarder that he made.
Edison – one of the most efficient teams around – was lucky to only be trailing, 3-0, at halftime. The Chargers fumbled four times in the first half and lost three of them. For the game, Edison fumbled six times.
Fajardo had a 14-yard carry on Servite's first possession of the third quarter and completed a 40-yard deep ball to Rudy Guerrero, and then pump-faked before laying the ball out to Ainslie Johnson for a 10-yard score, the sophomore tight end's second touchdown of the season. Loftus' point-after made it 10-0 with 6:27 left in the third quarter.
Edison missed a 45-yard field goal attempt by Markus Trujillo with 4:42 left in the third quarter.
Nicholls carried twice for 52 yards and Sean De Rosa 13 times for 46 for Servite. Rudy Guerrero led Servite receivers with four catches for 66 yards.
Wade Houston led Edison rushers with 18 carries for 53 yards. Viles completed passes to six receivers, but none had more than two catches, including Trojan, who had 47 yards in receptions.
Servite's Matt Inman forced two fumbles and Butch Pauu had eight tackles. Edison's Zumwalt had 11 tackles, including three for losses.
When it was over, Servite performed its noted Hut Drill while Edison players stood and watched, their feelings painfully evident after coming so close to a perfect season. Still, they were gracious in defeat.
“It hurts,” receiver Trojan said. “They completely outplayed us. They were a better team tonight.”
More Saturday action.
Crenshaw 34, Harbor City 14: De'Anthony Thomas rushed 12 times for 193 yards and three touchdowns to lead top-seeded Crenshaw to a 34-14 victory over 11th-seeded Harbor City Narbonne in the Los Angeles City Section championship game at the Coliseum. It's the first title game for Crenshaw since 2005.
Thomas scored on runs of 5, 11 and 69 yards for Crenshaw (14-0), a State Division II game that will compete against Northern Division champion Westlake Village Westlake (14-0) and Pac-5 champion Anaheim Servite (13-1) for positions in the Open and Division II Bowl games next week at the Home Depot Center. Narbonne (8-6) shared the title last season with San Pedro.
Crenshaw scored on its opening drive, with Geoffrey Norwood rushing for 38 of the Cougars' 62 yards. Crenshaw kept the drive alive with a fourth-and-one at the Narbonne 14 before Thomas scored from five yards.
Narbonne drove to the Crenshaw 13 when an apparent shovel pass was called a fumble and Crenshaw recovered. Narbonne eventually tied the score at 7-7 midway through the second quarter when Melvin Douglas scored from two yards.
Crenshaw scored twice before the half ended, though, when Hayes Pullard ran in from 17 yards with 4:50 left. The killer for Narbonne, though, was apparently losing a down in Crenshaw territory and turning the ball over – on downs – and having Crenshaw drive 67 yards with Thomas scoring from 11 with seven seconds left. Narbonne never recovered as Crenshaw opened a 34-7 lead going into the fourth quarter with scoring runs by Qujuan Floyd and Thomas.
Davis' second touchdown run, of two yards, in the fourth quarter ended the scoring.
La Habra 21, Lake Forest Trabuco Hills 0: Josh Quezada rushed 39 times for 151 yards, and Cody Clemnts passed for two touchdown passes and ran for another – all in the first half – as La Habra (13-1) won its third consecutive Southern Section Southwest title over Lake Forest Trabuco Hills (12-2) at Angel Stadium in an intermittent rain.
Mission Bay 48, Valley Center 17: Dillon Baxter ran wild for Mission Bay, reportedly gaining 373 yards on 25 carries with seven rushing touchdowns. Baxter thus finishes the season with 50 rushing touchdowns and 78 touchdowns accounted for. That would be a new state record, according to the Cal-Hi Sports record book.
St. Margaret’s 12, Ontario Christian 6: The Tartans won their fourth straight CIF crown with a victory over Ontario Christian in the East Valley Division title game. St. Margaret’s has lost just one game in that span, and that was this year to Parker of San Diego.
La Habra 21, Trabuco Hills 0: The Highlanders won their third straight CIF title by capturing the Southwest Division with the win over Trabuco Hills. Josh Quezada had 151 yards rushing on 39 carries and Cody Clements threw two touchdown passes for La Habra.
Friday action
Serra 42, Oaks Christian 41 (OT): Serra of Gardena likely punched its ticket to a state bowl game and knocked out the nation's No. 4 team in the process.
A not-so-simple extra point by Francisco Olloqui in a driving rain proved to be the game-winning points as Serra pulled out a wild overtime win over highly-touted and star-studded Oaks Christian (Westlake Village) in the Southern Section Northwest Division championship game Friday night.
Conner Preston scored on a 1-yard touchdown plunge for Serra (14-0) after Oaks Christian (13-1) had scored a touchdown to open the overtime but missed the extra point.
According to this report by Los Angeles Times reporter Eric Sondheimer, bedlam ensued after the extra point as the victory ended a streak of 28 straight playoff wins and six straight section crowns for Oaks Christian, which got 295 rushing yards and four touchdowns by Malcolm Jones, recently selected California's Player of the Year by Gatorade.
The game featured numerous Division I athletes, including Serra's Robert Woods who had a 16-yard touchdown reception, 17-yard TD run and eighth interception of the season.
The victory all but assures Serra a spot in the CIF State Division III Bowl game (see how all of Friday's results may affect bowl game selections below) next week in Carson. With a victory, Oaks Christian was supposedly in line to take an Open (top) Division berth. As it is, the Lions had their season end one game short. Only section champions are eligible for the five bowl games.
Chaparral (Temecula) 13, Vista Murrieta 7: Mitch Glasmann scored on his second run of the game, this one from 4-yards out with more than a minute remaining, lifting the Pumas (10-3) to a Southern Section Inland Division title win over host Vista Murrieta (13-1), which had earlier in the year beat Chaparral 32-13.
Westlake 14, Moorpark 10: Freshman quarterback Justin Moore, filling in for injured starter Nick Isham, scored on a fourth-down 4-yard run with 41.3 seconds left to secure the hard-earned Southern Section Northern Division championship victory for Westlake (14-0).
Hamilton (Los Angeles) 67, El Camino Real (Woodland Hills) 42: Torey Whitfield completed 17 of 28 passes for 425 yards and seven touchdowns in the City Section Division II championship.
Oceanside 26, Helix 10: In the San Diego Section Division II title game at Qualcomm Stadium, Oceanside won its sixth straight championship and kept its hopes alive for a possible state bowl berth with its 38th consecutive victory. Oceanside forced six turnovers and all results in points.
Francis Parker (San Diego) 55, Bishop's 20: In the Division V San Diego Section title game at Qualcomm, junior Kenny Brookins scored on runs of 10, 6 and 21 yards and finished with 127 yards in 14 carries as Parker probably sewed up a small-school bowl berth.
Deon Randall and his Parker teammates could be headed
to the Home Depot Center in Carson next week.
Photo by Kirt Winter
Cathedral Catholic (San Diego) 20, Point Loma 14: Chance Early scored on a 63-yard touchdown pass from Max Brewer with just more than four minutes remailing lifting Cathedral Catholic (12-1) to its third straight SDS Division III title game at Qualcomm Stadium.
La Mirada 49, Garden Grove 27: In the Southern Section Southern Division title game, Justin Torres rushed for touchdowns, of 7, 7 and 52 yards and fourth-seeded La Mirada (13-1) scored 42 consecutive points to score a victory over top-seeded Garden Grove.
Garden Grove (13-1) took a 21-7 lead two plays into the second quarter when Josh Sepulveda scored from 8 yards on the wildcat formation; however, on the play before, quarterback Sean Young was injured on a horse-collar tackle. Garden Grove never recovered from the loss of its scrambling quarterback, who had scored on a 1-yard run and completed a 60-yard scoring pass to Josh Webb.
Garden Grove made a gallant attempt to win a championship for fallen teammate Kevin Telles, who collapsed in the final three minutes of a season-opening game and died later that night of still unknown cases. He was 17.
Bowl Update by Kevin Askeland
Upsets on Friday and Saturday completely changed the outlook for the Southern California bowl berths, especially in the Open, Division I and Division II bowls.
Here's an updated breakdown of each Division heading into Sunday’s bowl selection meeting.
SoCal Division I
Relevant Scores
Southern Section Pac-5 Division – Servite 16, Edison 6
San Diego Section Division II - Oceanside 26, Helix 10
Southern Section Inland Division – Chaparral 13, Vista Murrieta 7
Central Section Division I – Bullard 42, Centennial 31
Outlook – Servite pulled out the 16-6 win, ending Edison’s season and thus eliminating another Division I team from the Southern Section. Servite is a Division II team, but will likely be chosen for the Open Division.
Chaparral moved itself into contention with a 13-7 win over previously undefeated Vista Murrieta. As of Saturday evening, Chaparral moved ahead of Oceanside in the CalPreps rankings into the No. 1 spot thanks to Edison’s loss.
Oceanside, a 26-10 winner over Helix in the San Diego Section Division II finals, also looms as a possible choice. Oceanside played in the first bowl games three years ago and finished the year undefeated at 13-0 while Chaparral is 11-3. Chaparral’s losses are to Servite, Vista Murrieta and Centennial of Corona. Oceanside’s best win is a 14-7 victory over Long Beach Poly.
The only other unbeaten champion in the mix is Bullard, which defeated Centennial of Bakersfield 42-31 for the Central Section Division I championship.
SoCal Division II
Relevant Scores
Southern Section Pac-5 Division – Servite 16, Edison 6
Southern Section Northern Division – Westlake 14, Moorpark 10
San Diego Section Division III – Cathedral Catholic 20, Point Loma 14
Central Section Division IV – Kingsburg 47, Taft 16
San Diego Section Division IV – Mission Bay 48, Valley Center 17
Outlook – Servite is the obvious choice here after its win in the Pac-5 Division championship game, but the Friars have bigger fish to fry. They will likely be chosen for the Open Division game and will probably meet De La Salle (or possibly Rocklin if the committee decides to move the Thunder up from Division II) in the Saturday night feature contest at the Home Depot Center in Carson.
That would leave a bundle of teams to fight it out for the Division II berth. Mission Bay made its pitch for inclusion in the discussion with a 48-17 win over Valley Center. Dillon Baxter’s spectacular 7-touchdown performance allowed Mission Bay to finish undefeated, however Division II has no less than four undefeated teams including Westlake (14-0), Crenshaw (14-0), Mission Bay (13-0) and Kingsburg (13-0). Others that should be looked at include La Habra (13-1), Cathedral (12-1) and Mira Costa (12-2).
Westlake could be the choice thanks to a 14-10 win over Moorpark in the Northern Division championship. Westlake also defeated St. Bonaventure and has a win over Newbury Park.
Crenshaw crushed Narbonne 34-14 for the Los Angeles City Section championship. This might be the best Crenshaw team ever and the committee might see the Cougars as the best chance to include the Los Angeles City Section in the bowl games. The Cougars currently sit at No. 3 in the CalPreps rankings.
Then there is the defending champ, Cathedral Catholic of San Diego (12-1). A 22-21 loss to Lincoln hurts and will likely keep the Dons out of the state finals. Cathedral Catholic won the San Diego Section Division III title with a 20-14 win over Point Loma.
Kingsburg of the Central Section already won the Division 4 championship with a 47-16 win over Taft. However both Mission Bay and Kingsburg don’t quite have the strength of schedule, according to CalPreps, to necessarily sway the committee.
SoCal Division III
Relevant Score
Serra 42, Oaks Christian 41
Outlook - Serra of Gardena punched its ticket to the Division III bowl with its thrilling 42-41 win over Oaks Christian.
SoCal Small Schools
Relevant Score
Parker 55 Bishop’s 20
St. Margaret’s 12, Ontario Christian 6
Outlook - St. Margaret’s, the defending champion, won its fourth straight CIF championship Saturday night against Ontario Christian, but it was likely for naught. Parker defeated Bishop’s 55-20 to win the San Diego Section Division V championship and secure the Small Schools berth. Parker has a 28-20 win over St. Margaret’s this year.
Senior writers Kevin Askeland and Mitch Stephens contributed to this report.
