CONCORD – For just a moment Servite High’s football team entertained thoughts of upsetting perennial power De La Salle of Concord on Friday night.
The Friars took the game’s opening possession to the Spartans’ 6-yard line. On a third-and-goal, Jackson Taylor was stopped at the 5.
After settling for a short field goal, Servite watched De La Salle score 38 consecutive points to end the first half and the game was all but over. The Friars were more competitive in the second half but ended up on the wrong end of a 52-15 score.
Tyler Lytle was under seige most of the night. De La Salle sacked the junior quarterback four times, but if there was a statistic for “almost sacks,” the Spartans had a bundle. Lytle completed five of his first six passes, then missed on his next 10, a slump that stretched into the third quarter. He finished 11 of 25 for 141 yards and a touchdown with one interception.
The running game didn’t help Lytle much. Jackson led the way with 46 yards on 12 carries and the Friars totaled 97 yards rushing.
De La Salle, meanwhile, never faced much of a threat on the other side of the ball. The Spartans scored on six of their eight first-half possessions, fumbling at the Servite 2-yard line on a seventh. De La Salle finished with 560 yards, including 391 rushing.
Andrew Hernandez had runs of more than 60 yards the first two times he carried the ball – only one was a touchdown. Hernandez finished with 143 yards on five carries, including the two touchdowns.
The highlight for Servite (1-2) came in the third quarter when Lytle threw a pass to the left that appeared to be broken up by a pair of De La Salle defenders before Terrell Bynum emerged with the ball for a 17-yard touchdown.
