St. Bonaventure 35 - Eagles 14
Santa Margarita falls short in its opener
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VENTURA, CA., September 5, 2008 – Santa Margarita's small visiting crowd was on its feet and roaring. The Eagles unveiled their new pass-happy offense Friday night at Larrabee Stadium and, for a moment, there was a lot to smile about. That lasted for about five plays.
After quarterback Ryan World and receiver Gavin Escobar drove Santa Margarita a quick 71 yards against host St. Bonaventure, the Eagles' first drive stalled out on fourth-and-goal at the 1-yard line, as the shotgun snap sailed over World's head.
St. Bonaventure, the top-ranked team in the CIF-SS Northern Division, averaged 50 yards per touchdown run on the way to a 35-14 victory.
"We showed some great flashes of some really good football," Santa Margarita coach Mike Jacot said of his young, transitioning team. "So, I'm excited."
However, after the opening drive, the Eagles offense did not turn on again until the second half, when World completed 8 of 11 passes for 106 yards and two TDs.
St. Bonaventure Junior Devon Blackledge carried 11 times for 148 and a 73-yard touchdown, while senior Isaiah Barton had 154 yards on 5 carries, including touchdowns of 87 and 50 yards.
"We did a good job in limiting him (Patrick Hall)," Jacot said. "They did a good job of hurting us with their other weapons."
| St. Bonaventure | 7 | 13 | 0 | 15 | 35 |
| Santa Margarita | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 14 |
STB – Blackledge 73 run (Kirk kick)
STB – Burton 50 run (Kirk kick blocked)
STB – Hall 1 run (Kirk kick)
SM – Escobar 16 pass from World (Gabriel kick)
STB – Burton 87 run (Rodarte pass from Meyer)
SM – Cruz 22 pass from World (Gabriel kick)
STB – Rodarte 39 run
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
Rushing: SM - Tyson 11–34, Wagner 7–23; StBo - Blackledge 11–148, Burton 5–154
Passing: SM - World 18–31–2–239; StBo - Meyer 11–21–0–143
Receiving: SM - Escobar 9–162, Cruz 1–29; StBo - Gibson 3–37, Rodarte 2–38
Records: SM 0-1; StBo 1-0
By Jonathan Kay
Saturday, Sept. 6, 2008
The Orange County Register - Varsity
St. Bonaventure off to a running start
VENTURA, CA., September 5, 2008 – Patrick Hall was supposed to be the one to make St. Bonaventure High faithful forget about Darrell Scott.
The USC-bound Hall had only a secondary role — in the Seraphs' defensive backfield — in the chase to become St. Bonaventure's primary running back.
Devon Blackledge, who had never started a varsity game, rushed for 142 yards and Isaiah Burton added 160 as St. Bonaventure defeated Santa Margarita 35-14 Friday night in the season opener for both teams.
"Everybody was talking about who was going to replace Darrell Scott," said Blackledge. "It was Patrick Hall this and Patrick Hall that.
"I had to show people what I can do."
St. Bonaventure, ranked No. 1 in the Northern Division, No. 11 in the state and the preseason No. 1 in the Division III state bowl poll for the South, won its 11th consecutive game. The Seraphs have won 120 of their last 126.
Team speed has been a source for St. Bonaventure's strength over the last 12 years.
"If it's not me," said Blackledge, "it's Isaiah Burton or Nolan Rodarte, or, I hope I don't forget anybody."
Blackledge's 73-yard TD run on the first play of St. Bonaventure's second series of the game got the Seraphs off and running.
"Devon has been our secret weapon," said St. Bonaventure coach Todd Therrien.
Four of St. Bonaventure's five touchdowns on the ground were from 39 yards or longer. Burton scored on dashes of 50 and 87 yards. Rodarte closed out the offensive display with a 39-yard TD run with 4:53 left in the game.
"Isaiah was focused all week," said Therrien. "When he's focused, the sky is the limit for him."
Logan Meyer, making his first start at quarterback for St. Bonaventure, completed 10 of 22 passes for 138 yards.
Defensively, St. Bonaventure sacked Santa Margarita quarterback Ryan World six times.
"This was a much better result than last year," said Therrien, referring to 2007 season opener — a 15-14 St. Bonaventure win in the final 37 seconds.
"We still made a few mistakes; we needed a timeout for a two-point conversion."
World completed 17 of 29 passes for 207 yards, but was intercepted twice.
After a scare in the opening minutes of the game, St. Bonaventure controlled the opening half.
Santa Margarita drove 79 yards on its first drive to the Seraphs' 1-yard line. Nick Wagner appeared to score on an off-tackle dive, but the officials ruled his knee hit on the 1 on a third-and-goal. On fourth down, a snap from center sailed over the head of World, who was tackled for an 18-yard loss.
St. Bonaventure had 177 yards rushing in the first half — 123 yards on two plays.
Dylan Davis intercepted a Santa Margarita pass with 1:25 remaining. An 18-yard pass from Meyer to Drew Gibson set up St. Bonaventure's third score of the half. Hall's 1-yard TD run upped the Seraphs' margin at intermission to 20-0.
Santa Margarita's no-huddle offense built around a center package of World and 6-foot-6 wide receiver Gavin Escobar presented problems for the St. Bonaventure defense early in the game. Escobar caught six passes for 99 yards in the half.
Santa Margarita capitalized on St. Bonaventure's only turnover of the game.
Late in the third quarter, A.J. Cruz recovered a fumbled punt return at the St. Bonaventure 16-yard line. One play later, World threw a TD pass to Gavin Escobar to close the margin to 20-7 with 3:44 left.
St. Bonaventure countered with an 87-yard run by Burton early in the fourth quarter to extend the margin to 28-7.
Blackledge scored on a 73-yard run with 4:13 left in the first quarter and Burton sprinted 50 yards with 6:11 remaining in the half to give St. Bonaventure a 13-0 lead.
By Derry Eads
Saturday, Sept. 6, 2008
The Ventura County Star
