It can be hard to translate regular season success to the playoffs, but St. Francis had no problem doing just that on Friday. They slipped by the Muir Mustangs 28-27. For the Golden Knights, this counts as revenge for the 28-18 victory the Mustangs walked away with the last time they faced one another back in September.
Leading St. Francis to victory were Isaac Fajardo and John Sanders. Fajardo rushed for 70 yards and three touchdowns, while Sanders rushed for 60 yards and a touchdown. Fajardo has been hot recently, having posted two or more rushing touchdowns the last three times he's played.
Another reason for the win was St. Francis' imposing defense, which managed to get into the backfield for four sacks. Muir's QB won't forget Thomas Deluccia anytime soon given he sacked him twice. Deluccia is becoming a predictor of St. Francis' success: when he posts at least two sacks the team is 2-1 (and 3-6 when he doesn't).
Keyon Mills and Alijah Parker certainly did their best on Friday to avoid the loss. Mills rushed for 87 yards and three touchdowns on only six carries, while Parker rushed for 149 yards and a touchdown while picking up 7.5 yards per carry. The dominant performance gave Parker a new career-high in rushing yards.
St. Francis has been performing well recently as they've won five of their last six contests, which provided a nice bump to their 5-7 record this season. Those good results were due in large part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 33.8 points per game. As for Muir, they moved to 9-3 with that loss, which also ended their nine-game winning streak.
St. Francis will face off against Murrieta Mesa at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Each of these teams will be fighting to keep a win streak alive as St. Francis comes in on three and Murrieta Mesa on seven. Muir does not have any more games scheduled as of now.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
