NORWALK – It’s remarkable how much can change in a week..
Seven days ago Bishop Amat’s defense was dismantled by a Mater Dei juggernaut of an offense, to the tune of 338 yards and five touchdowns from a single player – in a single half.
On Friday night, Bishop Amat flipped that script, holding off visiting Servite for a 14-10 win at Cerritos College.
On the winning drive, sophomore quarterback Blake Archuleta connected on three straight passes, two to Dominic Barrera, to move the ball to the Servite 10-yard line. From there, he found Jarren Ford on a pass for the go-ahead touchdown, staking the Lancers to a 14-10 lead.
The same defense that allowed 63 points just one week prior – to be fair, Mater Dei is not the most accurate barometer of a team’s defense in Week 0 – was the backbone behind a gritty victory.
With the Bishop Amat offense struggling to garner any semblance of momentum, gaining just 77 total yards in the first half, the defense and special teams remained resolute. Six times the Lancers (1-1) sacked Servite quarterback Tyler Lytle for a total of 30 yards.
Asa Fuller’s field goal was the most the Friars – who had scored 44 points on Fountain Valley just a week before –could muster on its first five possessions.
Only on its fifth series, Servite (1-1) made the mistake of punting into the awaiting hands of Noah Guzman, who hauled it in at the 50-yard-line and raced down the sideline into the end zone a little more than two minutes before halftime. Suddenly, in a half in which the Lancers gained just five first downs, they were leading 7-3.
The Friars, who kept Lytle from being sacked in the second half, found a hole in Bishop Amat’s defense early in the fourth quarter, engineering an eight-play, 51-yard drive that ended with Steven Muise’s 14-yard touchdown run. But it was a lead that wouldn’t hold.
