Football Preview: Servite Friars vs. St. Paul Swordsmen
After each having a week off, the Servite Friars and the St. Paul Swordsmen will dust off their jerseys to square off against one another at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Servite is currently enjoying a perfect season and no doubt wants to keep things rolling.
Two weeks ago, Servite got the win against Notre Dame (SO) by a conclusive 38-17. The Friars might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won three games by 20 points or more this season.
Quaid Carr was his usual excellent self, rushing for 141 yards and two touchdowns. His rushing production has been exceptional recently as that marked his third straight game with at least 141 rushing yards dating back to last season. Another rusher making a difference was Gavin Gutierrez, who rushed for 90 yards and a touchdown on only nine carries.
Servite wouldn't let Notre Dame (SO) keep a hold of the ball as they managed to force two fumbles. Servite can thank Elijah Rincon and Isaiah Leilua for forcing both of them. Leilua also set a new season high mark in total tackles with eight. Tomas Cernius was another major factor on D, picking up two sacks, making four total tackles (3.0 for loss), and making four total tackles (3.0 for loss).
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Servite was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 289 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 224 rushing yards in three consecutive matches.
Meanwhile, St. Paul lost 38-14 to Los Alamitos two weeks ago. The Swordsmen have now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.
St. Paul's loss shouldn't obscure the performances of Gabriel Castaneda, who threw for 204 yards and two touchdowns, and Kalai Benavente, who picked up 92 receiving yards and a touchdown. The dominant performance also gave Castaneda a new career-high in rushing yards.
Servite's victory bumped their record up to 4-0. As for St. Paul, their defeat dropped their record down to 2-2.
Everything went Servite's way against St. Paul when the teams last played back in September of 2023, as Servite made off with a 34-13 win. Does Servite have another victory up their sleeve, or will St. Paul turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
