NORWALK – JSerra coach Jim Hartigan wasn’t going to make any excuses for his team after it lost a pair of close games to open Trinity League play.
If the ninth-ranked Lions wanted to make the postseason, they would have to grow up fast against the upper half of the Trinity League.
St. John Bosco scored at will in dismantling the young Lions, 60-7, Friday night at Cerritos College.
The Braves (8-0, 3-0), ranked No. 2 in the nation and first in the state by MaxPreps, scored on their first seven possessions. Quentin Davis threw for 311 yards and five touchdowns. Anselem Umeh had 144 receiving yards and one touchdown, and Sean McGrew rushed for 83 yards and two scores.
JSerra (5-3, 0-3) has games remaining against Mater Dei and Orange Lutheran. Five of the six Trinity League teams were selected for the CIF-SS Pac-5 Division playoffs last year.
Hartigan said during pregame warmups that his team would need to win two of its last three games to receive an at-large bid. Servite and Santa Margarita both dropped to 1-2 in league Friday night, but each has a head-to-head victory against JSerra.
That would seem to make the Lions’ last two games must-win scenarios, and Hartigan issued a challenge to his team after its blowout loss.
“We’re going to have to dig deep within and play harder than we did tonight,” he said. “I didn’t think we played very hard, and it shows on the scoreboard.”
“We’ve got to get back to work and get this thing fixed. Otherwise, the results will be the same.”
If the Lions are going to save their season, their best chance lies on the shoulders of Avery Williams. The senior running back was a bright spot for the Lions offense, which came up empty on all three of its red-zone visits.
Williams rushed for 150 yards (194 total), including back-to-back carries of 29 and 41 yards to end the first half.
