MISSION HILLS —The St. Francis defense came up big in critical moments and the offense collectively clicked in a 37-13 win over Alemany on Friday night. It’s the Golden Knights’ first win of the season.
“I feel good for the players,” head coach Dean Herrington said, “because this team has worked so hard and to not reap any of the benefits like that, it’s great for their hard work to finally pay off.”
Quarterback John Sanders missed the first three games of the season due to a sprained MCL and appeared fully back to form on Friday night when he threw two touchdown passes for St. Francis (1-6 overall, 1-1 Angelus League).
The senior has several Division 3 offers and has visits to Montana and Sacramento State lined up for the next two weekends.
“I feel great,” Sanders said. “I couldn’t even feel it (tonight), to be honest.”
Alemany (5-2, 0-2) tried to maximize the athleticism of two-way players Demare Dezeurn and Gianni Haynes in the first half of the game.
Dezeurn lined up in the backfield towards the end of the second quarter and, before that, grabbed a touchdown reception from quarterback Valentino May. The junior flicked a short pass to Dezeurn, who spun around a defender and ran into the end zone for a 35-yard score with 8:26 left in the first quarter.
Gianni Haynes showed off his speed by bolting to the end zone and beating a defender in a one-on-one battle to catch a 38-yard pass from May 39 seconds before halftime.
“They ran the ball more than I thought they’d run the ball against us,” Herrington said, “and they had some new formations, an unbalanced line, so that caught us off guard. But we figured it out and our guys did a great job.”
St. Francis scored two touchdowns in the second quarter to go into the break with a 15-13 advantage.
Running back Isaac Fajardo rushed into the end zone from 2 yards out for his first of three touchdowns and the Golden Knights were successful on the two-point conversion afterward. Sanders connected with Shawn Sanders roughly six minutes later for a 19-yard touchdown.
The Warriors lost one of their best offensive weapons when Dezeurn, who clocked the fourth-best 100-meter dash time in the state during track season, suffered an apparent injury to his right ankle at the start of the third quarter.
Alemany head coach Casey Clausen was not available for an interview after the game to give an update on Dezeurn’s status.
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Dezeurn landed awkwardly after jumping up for a pass and St. Francis receiver/defensive back Brady Cofre snatched up the ball when it came loose. The Golden Knights marched down the field and Fajardo punched the ball in from 3 yards out for a 22-13 lead.
Linebacker Tim Murphy had a timely pass breakup on an Alemany fourth down and the defense forced a fumble with 4:16 left in the game to keep the Golden Knights offense on the field.
“We needed our defense,” Sanders said. “When we needed them, they came up big.”
Fajardo rattled off a 33-yard touchdown run and Sanders threw a 40-yard touchdown pass to Cofre in the fourth quarter to seal the win.
