Pittman guides Servite back to Pac-5 final

NORWALK - He was not the most spectacular quarterback on the field. But he was a steady one, and the winning one.

Cody Pittman had perhaps his best game of the season Saturday for Servite, and his time could not have been better. He was an efficient 13-for-15 passing, for 157 yards and a touchdown, and rushed for 78 yards and a touchdown as the Friars beat Alemany of Mission Hills, 28-21, in a CIF-Southern Section Pac-5 Division semifinal at Cerritos College.

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The matchup so many had hoped for is coming. Servite and Mission Viejo, both 13-0, will meet in the Pac-5 championship game Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at Angel Stadium. All season, Servite was No. 1 in the Orange County rankings while Mission Viejo was No. 2; the CIF-SS Pac-5 rankings had it the other way around all year, with Mission at No. 1 and Servite at No. 2.

Servite beat Mission Viejo in the semifinals last year before defeating Edison in the championship game at Angel Stadium. The Friars have had a pretty good run lately at Angel Stadium, having defeated Mater Dei there last month.

Friars coach Troy Thomas acknowledged that getting back to the Pac-5 final at Angel Stadium was a challenging task, and they had to beat a 12-0 Alemany team Saturday to complete the journey.

"I attribute it all to the the guys on the field," he said. "They worked so hard. To get back there, you have to earn it and these guys did that in the offseason and throughout the season, in practice and in the weight room."

Through all of those weight-training sessions and practices, Pittman, a junior, was taking on a difficult assignment. He had to replace Cody Fajardo, last year's Orange County offensive player of the year, at quarterback. So far, so good.

"Cody's been progressing all year," Servite junior defensive back London Lewis said. "He says going against us in practice is going against the best defense he could go against. So we've helped make him better."

Servite's defense went against one of the better quarterbacks they have faced all season. Alemany's Vernon Adams was Michael Vick-like, throwing for 266 yards and two touchdowns and rushing for 139 yards. Several times, he would appear to be trapped in the backfield yet would escape to complete a pass or scamper his way for a first down.

The Friars' Malik Felton rushed for 142 yards on 22 carries, including a touchdown run of 63 yards in the second quarter.

Servite had a 28-7 lead and, apparently, the game put away when Alemany rallied in the fourth quarter. Adams threw a 13-yard touchdown pass to Josh Marquez to cut the Servite advantage to 28-14 early in the quarter, then found Corey Sims on a 12-yard TD pass to make it 28-21 with three minutes to go.

Servite then took 2:40 off the clock, as Alemany expended its timeouts, with a 12-yard run for a first down by Pittman leading the cause. Connor Loftus, who earlier had made punts of 68 and 72 yards, missed a 51-yard field goal attempt with 20 seconds left.

Alemany ran three plays, the last a run by Adams that ended with Servite linebacker Matthew Inman driving Adams out of bounds near the Warriors' 40.

Servite had a 21-7 lead at halftime. A 15-yard touchdown pass from Pittman to Ainslie Johnson make it 28-7.

Servite scored the game's first points, going 84 yards on 16 plays on its opening drive. Sean DeRosa finished the drive with a 1-yard touchdown run with 8:46 to go in the first quarter.

Alemany answered, and quickly. The Warriors' first play was a 42-yard completion from quarterback Vernon Adams to wide receiver Tyler Dabovich. Another 17-yard completion, and a 20-yard run by Adams, soon led to a 1-yard scoring run by Alemany's Cameron Washington to tie it, 7-7.

It became a field-position battle for a time, and Servite had the right guy win it. Connor Loftus delivered a 68-yard punt that pinned Alemany at its 1-yard line. The Warriors were stopped at their 10, punted and Servire took over at the Alemany 42.

A couple of Pittman completions and a 19-yard run by Felton pushed the Friars downfield, and Pittman put Servite ahead with a 1-yard sneak to make it 14-7.

Felton added his 63-yard touchdown run in the second quarter to give the Friars the 21-7 halftime lead.