CORONA – The past three weeks have not been much fun for JSerra’s football team.
Defeated roundly by St. John Bosco and Mater Dei to finish its league campaign, JSerra was bounced from the playoffs by Centennial of Corona, 55-24, on Friday night in a CIF-Southern Section Division 1 first-round game.
“If you play well, then it prepares you well, but we’ve had three tough games in a row,” JSerra coach Jim Hartigan said. “Unfortunately, the results have been the same.”
Matt Robinson passed for three touchdowns but it wasn’t enough as the Lions (5-6) finish the season losing five of their past six.
“I thought we came early ready to play, offensively we moved the ball a little bit,” Hartigan said. “You got to play with people like Centennial in the playoffs, even if you get beat, you learn what it takes to be a deep contender in the playoffs.”
Robinson connected with Tyler Shimomura for two touchdown receptions in the second quarter.
JSerra came out determined to run the ball behind it big offensive line. QB Matt Robinson moved the Lions down into scoring range before Nick Haggard got them on the scoreboard with a 36-yard field goal.
Centennial used just four plays to score on its second drive as McKee found Manuel Allen on a middle slant route for a 26-yard touchdown and a 13-3 lead with 3 minutes left in the first quarter.
Nick Callen gained a game-high 168 yards on 27 carries for the JSerra, which started the season 4-1 after wins over Vista Murrieta and Los Alamitos, among others.
Tanner McKee completed 18 of 22 passes for 261 yards and four touchdowns for Centennial, the defending CIF-Southern Section PAC-5 champion. He also ran for 61 yards and two more scores on seven carries.
