LONG BEACH – St. Anthony senior BJ Busbee had little real estate to work with and a pair of sprinting Yorba Linda defenders breathing down his neck when he fielded a punt at his team’s 36-yard line late in the third quarter.
The Saints return man shook off the first two Mustangs, eluded another would-be tackler as he hit the sideline, and hurdled the final Yorba Linda player in his way at the 20 en route to a spectacular 64-yard punt return touchdown.
It was one of several highlight-worthy moments that athletically superior St. Anthony turned in Saturday night.
In addition to his punt return, Busbee also caught a touchdown pass and accounted for a 75-yard interception return for a score as the Saints put up 22 consecutive points in the third quarter, topping Yorba Linda, 55-23, in the CIF State Regional Division 4-A final at Veterans Stadium.
The Saints (13-2) will play for the state championship next Saturday night. They will host Pleasant Valley in the finale.
Yorba Linda saw its best season in school history come to an end. The Mustangs finished their campaign with a 12-3 overall record and brought home the school’s first CIF-SS championship in football.
“The one thing I was worried about this whole thing (regionals), was it might leave a bad taste in your mouth after an unbelievably awesome season,” Yorba Linda coach Jeff Bailey said after the game. “This team is a champion and they have nothing to hang their heads about at all.”
From the outset, St. Anthony’s team speed and offensive pace looked like it was going to give the Mustangs fits.
The Saints jumped out to a 14-0 lead behind running back Talaun Patton’s 42- and 4-yard touchdown runs in the first quarter. The senior scored his third touchdown of the half on a 6-yard pass from quarterback John Buksa midway through the second quarter, giving St. Anthony its biggest lead of the half, 20-3.
Yorba Linda stayed true to its identity chasing 17 points, feeding the ball to junior running back Jaydyn Webb. A pair of Webb touchdown runs late in the second quarter cut the Mustangs deficit to 20-17, but a St. Anthony two-minute drill and touchdown to end the half put the Saints up 26-17 at the break.
“It took the wind out of our sails a little bit,” Bailey said of the Saints touchdown. “I was hoping we’d battle a little bit, and we did in the second half, but they just had our number tonight.”
Facing a fourth-and-four from its own 44-yard line on the first series of the second half, Buksa outran the Yorba Linda defense en route to a 56-yard touchdown run, sparking 22 consecutive points for the Saints in the third quarter.
St. Anthony’s senior quarterback ran for 131 yards on nine carries and threw for 172 more and three additional scores.
“They were pretty athletic and made some plays,” Bailey said. “We battled them for awhile, but there were a couple plays here and there and we weren’t able to keep up with them.”
Webb paced the Mustangs offense with 136 yards and two touchdowns on 27 carries. Sophomore wide out Ricky Lane caught eight passes for 92 yards an a score.
Contact the writer: kconnolly@scng.com
