St. Paul football grinds out a victory over St. Francis

LA CANADA — A punishing and controlling ground attack helped St. Paul get back to its winning ways. The Swordsmen rushed for 292 yards and dominated the time of possession to hold off St. Francis 27-17 in Angelus League football on Friday night.

St. Paul (3-3, 1-0) ended a three-game losing streak to begin its quest for a league championship while St. Francis (0-6, 0-1) will have to wait another week to pursue its first win of the season.

The Swordsmen were led by sophomore running back Marley Luatua and quarterback Gabriel Castaneda. Luatua scored three touchdowns and rushed for 113 yards on 23 carries. Castaneda had 20 rushes for 102 yards and one touchdown. He also completed 14 of 18 passes for 107 yards.

St. Paul’s running game was so solid that it didn’t have a negative rush until Castaneda took a knee in victory formation at the end of the game.

The Swordsmen offense spent nearly the entire first half on the field as their time of possession was over 22 minutes. There are only 24 minutes in a half.

The second half was a little more balanced in the time of possession stat but St. Paul did have two drives that ate up 6:28 and 5:04.

Controlling the ball and running it well is something St. Paul coach Mike Moschetti emphasizes in his coaching strategy.

“If you can run the ball and shorten the game and keep an explosive quarterback and offense off the field it makes (the opposing) offensive coordinator get a little tight calling plays,” Moschetti explained. “It’s what this school is about. It’s our culture and our tradition. We want to throw the ball. (Castaneda) hit some big passes. We want to be balanced. But we also want to eat up clock, huddle, take control of time of possession and put other teams away.”

St. Francis coach Dean Herrington wasn’t surprised.

“That’s what they do,” he said of St. Paul running the ball and controlling the time of possession. “I’m surprised they even threw a little bit more tonight than what I thought.”

St. Paul put on a first-half clinic for fans who love the 3-yards-and-a-cloud-of-dust style of football. The Swordsmen used 14 plays to march 79 yards down the field on the game’s opening drive to take a 7-0 lead when Luatua plunged into the end zone from 1 yard out. Ten of those plays were runs. That drive ate up 10:04 of the first quarter.

St. Francis quarterback John Sanders fumbled on his team’s opening offensive play which was recovered by St. Paul’s Makai Piper at the St. Francis 32 with 2:22 left in the first quarter.

St. Paul then made it 13-0 with 10:34 left in the second when Luatua took a handoff at the St. Francis 2 and scored. The extra point was blocked.

After quickly forcing St. Francis to punt after a three-and-out, the Swordsmen took over at their own 30 with 9:50 left in the quarter. St. Paul used a mixture of runs and passes to move the ball down to the St. Francis 3 where the Swordsmen faced a fourth-and-2. Luatua was stuffed for only a 1-yard gain.

The Golden Knights took over at their own 2 with 1:00 left. Sanders marched his team down to the St. Paul 39 where his brother, Shawn, nailed a 46-yard field goal as time expired in the half to cut the St. Paul lead to 13-3.

St. Paul ate up 5:04 of the clock in the third quarter on a 10-play drive but it ended when kicker Jesse Riperto missed a 44-yard field goal. In that drive, St. Paul got called for two holding penalties, including one that negated what would have been a 19-yard touchdown run by Luatua.

“When we get into the red zone we have to be able to run the ball when teams know you’re going to run the ball in short-yardage situations,” Moschetti said. “I think we had three holding penalties in and around the red zone.”

St. Francis pulled within 13-10 late in the third quarter when Sanders hit Brady Cofre on a crossing pattern for a 15-yard touchdown.

St. Paul answered quickly to regain a double-digit lead. Freshmen Aden Taufa took a pitch down the side for a 62-yard run. Two plays later, Luatua scampered into the end zone from 10 yards out early in the fourth quarter.

St. Francis answered on its next drive when Sanders found Cofre again. This time, Sanders threw down the left side to a streaking Cofre who jumped up and hauled the pass down while staying in bounds for a 22-yards score that cut St. Paul’s lead to 20-17 with 8:19 left in the game.

The Swordsmen though went back to the ground game with Castaneda and Luatua. The drive started at the St. Paul 31. The Swordsmen used 11 plays to march down to the St. Francis 1 where they faced a third-and-goal. Castaneda then snuck it on the next play for a touchdown with 1:51 left in the game.

Luatua then intercepted Sanders on the next drive to seal the win for St. Paul.

“I’m proud of our kids,” Moschetti said. “They played hard. We had a great week of practice but have a long way to go.”

St. Paul will play St. Pius-St. Matthias next week.

As for St. Francis, they were led by Sanders who completed 17 of 30 passes for 229 yards and two touchdowns and one interception.

Herrington praised Sanders for his play and said he’s confident the team can get its first win and make the CIF-Southern Section playoffs. St. Francis will play Alemany next week.

“It is what it is this year,” Herrington said. “We started seven sophomores and we played eight of nine sophomores. But we’re still there. We’ll be all right. We’re still in league play and I think we’re going to win them all.”