LA PUENTE – One week after fighting back for an overtime victory, the seventh-ranked JSerra football team was locked in a double fight Friday night.
Unfortunately, it was against itself and the host Bishop Amat Lancers.
JSerra committed a pair of turnovers and was stopped on the 1-yard line in the first quarter, coming away with no points and eventually those mistakes added up to a 35-28 loss to the Lancers.
“We got stopped at the 1-yard line, obviously, you have to punch it in there,” JSerra coach Jim Hartigan said. “Two missed opportunities there. We gave one up with the interception for a touchdown (in the first quarter) … two interceptions, that doesn’t give you a chance to drive down and defensively, we struggled.”
The Lions (2-1) trailed for the majority of the night, but finally caught the Lancers at 28-28 on a 1-yard touchdown from Nick Callen in the third quarter that capped a 16-play, 70-yard drive.
The Lancers (2-1) responded to start the fourth quarter, going 70 yards in 10 plays, ending with Andrew Perez’s 1-yard touchdown to take a 35-28 lead.
JSerra then had three possessions for the tying score, but came up empty. On the final drive, Matthew Robinson converted a fourth-and-17 with a 19-yard run and later on a fourth-and-9 from the Bishop Amat 25, Robinson scrambled and came up short.
“We didn’t play well enough or clean enough to win,” Hartigan said. “It is a lot like the playoffs two years ago, they beat us by seven and it was a game where they did a nice job and we’re not there yet. We’re still young, we have injuries, but they came to play and we have to clean our mistakes and turnovers.”
The first quarter was one to forget for the Lions. Robinson threw two interceptions, one was returned for a touchdown by Nick Losoya and by the time the dust settled Bishop Amat had a 21-7 lead.
The Lions started to get their passing game on track in the second half, thanks to a 65-yard touchdown pass from Robinson to Thomas Huff. JSerra then caught a big break near the end of the first. Calvin Mouisset came up with a blocked punt and Riley O’Brien scooped it up and went into the end zone to cut the Bishop Amat lead to 28-21.
“We got some young guys some experience, but we got more injuries too,” Hartigan said. “Every time you play a tough schedule like this, you have to basically strap it on and get ready to go.
“We have to grow up quickly. Defensively, we have to have a fast start. Two weeks in a row, we have not started very well on defense and that has caught up, we’ve been playing catch up and we have to clean that up.”
Contact the writer: dcalhoun@scng.com
