Recap
St. Bonaventure wins 40-28 to earn the league championship.
Oaks Christian 28, Saint Bonaventure 40
Ventura, CA — Delon Thompson was bottled up for four yards in his first six carries Thursday night vs. the Oaks Christian School defense.
Turns out, St. Bonaventure High's relentless senior running back had the Lions exactly where he wanted them.
"Just keep running hard," he would say later. "The yards are going to come."
Thompson is a man of his words, and St. Bonaventure is now the two-time Marmonte League football champion.
In a season of dominance in which the sturdy 5-foot-9, 196-pounder had rushed for 2,001 yards in nine games, there was no letup in the ballyhooed league championship showdown.
Thompson piled up 230 yards in 28 carries, including touchdowns of 10, 1 and 1 yards, as the Seraphs rolled to a 40-28 victory over Oaks Christian in the regular-season finale at Ventura College.
St. Bonaventure won 40-28 to earn the league championship.
It wasn't a one-man act. Quarterback Anthony Wolter was an efficient 12 of 16 on pass attempts for 129 yards and a 20-yard touchdown toss to Manny Rosales while also rushing for 41 yards; Kaden Glover ran for touchdowns of 9 and 5 yards; and the Seraphs defense limited the high-powered Lions to two scores until late in the fourth quarter.
Oaks Christian (7-3 overall, 4-1 in league) was ranked No. 16 in the Calpreps ratings this week. St. Bonaventure (7-3, 5-0) checked in at No. 30.
Still, the Seraphs controlled the matchup from the opening kickoff. After punting on its opening series, St. Bonaventure scored touchdowns on its next three possessions to open up a 21-0 lead.
Oaks Christian was plagued by four turnovers, including a pair of interceptions and two lost fumbles on kickoff returns, as St. Bonaventure's lead expanded to 40-14 midway through the fourth quarter.
Was the dominance unexpected? Not to the Seraphs.
"This is exactly what we thought would happen," said Wolter. "We've worked so hard this season for this. We had a great week of practices where everyone was ready to go. We know we're capable of playing this way."
Wolter, a junior, transferred from Alemany after last season to join the Seraphs' program. Safe to say it's all worked out.
"I'm so glad to be here and so happy to be a part of this," he said. "We're a family and we care so much about each other. We're all excited."
Senior linebacker Jared Barlow helped spark a defense that might have played its best game of the season. The Seraphs shut down Oaks Christian's pass offense, limiting the Lions to 69 yards with a pair of interceptions through three quarters.
Oaks Christian's bright spot was the performance of senior running back Johnny Thompson, who rushed for 153 yards and two scores.
"Credit our coaches for coming up with a great game plan," said Barlow. "We wanted to make them one-dimensional, and we were able to do that. Really, it's about everyone doing their jobs and playing as a unit."
The senior reveled in the night's achievement.
"It's huge for us," Barlow said. "To win two undefeated league championships back to back is big for the program. It's where we want to be. We can all be proud."
Thompson said the Seraphs were completely dialed in.
"Mentally, we were all confident and ready to go," he said. "It was always our goal to win the league championship again. Now we're set for the playoffs, and we need to keep the same focus and play as a team."
The CIF-SS will release its playoff brackets Sunday. St. Bonaventure was seemingly headed for Division 3 before Thursday night, but Division 2 is now a possibility.
Oaks Christian could also end up in Division 2.
Lions coach Charlie Collins knows his team needs to respond after the difficult loss.
"Four turnovers," he said. "You can't turn the ball over like that against the good teams and expect to win. We haven't done anything like that for several weeks, or against Serra. We'll need to play better. When we play clean, we're hard to beat."
An 11-yard loss on its opening possession pinned Oaks Christian on its own 1-yard line. The subsequent punt set up St. Bonaventure at the 35-yard line, and the Seraphs took advantage.
Wolter's 14-yard run on third-and-9 pushed the ball to the 3-yard line. Two plays later, Glover scampered in from 5 yards out for the 7-0 lead.
On its next series, Thompson heated up with runs of 8, 12 and 17 yards. Wolter chipped in with a 22-yard run. Thompson closed out the nine-play, 74-yard drive with a 1-yard score.
"Honestly, I'm always a pass-first quarterback," said Wolter. "But if I see an opening, I can make plays with my legs. Whatever I can do to get the job done."
Drew Cofield's interception in the end zone ended an Oaks Christian chance and set up St. Bonaventure for a five-play, 80-yard touchdown march.
Thompson provided the key play with a 47-yard burst.
Oaks Christian lost a fumble on the second-half kickoff, and St. Bonaventure cashed in for a 28-7 lead. Glover scored the touchdown on a 9-yard run.
Following a 3-yard scoring run by Johnny Thompson that trimmed the St. Bonaventure advantage to 28-14, the Seraphs struck again.
Wolter's 20-yard scoring pass to Rosales hiked the lead to 34-14 with 3:30 on the third-quarter clock.
Sophomore quarterback Axel Eason entered the game for Oaks Christian in the final quarter and threw touchdown passes of 9 and 10 yards in the closing minutes.