Simi Valley football goes back to basics to beat St. Bonaventure

SIMI VALLEY — Down at halftime against visiting St. Bonaventure on Friday night, the Simi Valley High School football team decided to simply their offensive game plan.

Going back to the basics worked as the Pioneers erupted for 35 second-half points to remain unbeaten with a 42-28 comeback victory.

“We were doing a good job in the first half, but they did a nice job stopping us on third down,” said Simi Valley coach Jim Benkert, whose team improved to 6-0. “They did a nice job against some things we thought would work. We changed in the second half. We went to more basic stuff.

“In the first half, we were doing a lot of motions and a lot of misdirects and they didn’t fall for it. We said, ‘Let’s go back to our basic stuff’ and it seemed to work so we stayed with it.”

The come-from-behind victory was possible because of the impressive play of senior Brice Hawkins. He scored four times, catching one touchdown and rushing for three more. He broke multiple tackles on each scoring play.

“He’s special,” Benkert said. “He’s been special. He’s become the all-time leading touchdown scorer in the history of the school and the all-time yardage leader in the history of the school. He is special but give credit to the offensive line. We really felt like that St. Bonaventure’s defensive front was a big problem for us and our guys really responded in the second half.”

The Seraphs (3-3) took a 14-7 lead into halftime thanks to their ability to rebound from their own mistakes.

St. Bonaventure fumbled three times in the red zone in the opening half. Two of three were recovered by the Pioneers, who were ultimately unable to capitalize on either.

After going three-and-out after its first fumble recovery, Simi Valley recovered another fumble yet found itself facing fourth down deep in its own territory. The Pioneers attempted to punt from their own end zone, but the punt was blocked and Seraphs senior defensive end Jaden Few recovered it for a touchdown for the 14-7 lead.

St. Bonaventure scored its first touchdown to tie the score at 7 with 5:40 remaining in the second quarter when running back Koen Glover scored on an 18-yard rush.

Simi Valley was the first team to find the end zone when Hawkins plunged in on fourth-and-goal from the 3-yard line with 9:05 left in the half.

Earlier in the same drive, Hawkins converted a fourth-and-16, simply refusing to go down for any would-be tackler.

Simi Valley quarterback Tagg Harrison threw a pair of touchdowns. In addition to connecting with Hawkins, he tossed a fourth-quarter, go-ahead touchdown to junior Jayden Clarke.

Zane Tryon also ran for a touchdown in the win.

Glover added a 70-yard rushing score for the Seraphs, who also got a passing touchdown from Jaxson Carper to James Thompson.