Servite 42 - Eagles 13
Servite rolls past Santa Margarita to finish strong for ‘special’ senior class
SANTA ANA, CA., April 15, 2020 – Servite High’s football team closed its spring season Thursday, April 15 with a reminder that it features plenty of technical execution and physicality in addition to its prized college recruits.
And one spirited student section.
The No. 2 Friars played without All-County wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan and USC-committed tight end Keyan Burnett due to injuries but used a dominating ground attack and lockdown defense to finish the coronavirus shortened and delayed season with 42-13 victory against No. 4 Santa Margarita at Santa Ana Stadium.
Kyle Bandy and Houston Thomas combined for 182 yards on the ground and cornerback Noah Avinger led a stellar effort by the secondary as the Friars (4-2, 3-2) clinched third place outright in the Trinity League.
“Typical Servite kids, they’re smart and tough,” Friars coach Troy Thomas said. “I’m really proud of our guys. Our guys wanted to finish the right way. It was really important to them to finish for our seniors. This is a special group of seniors. They were freshmen when I came in.”
Bandy, a senior running back, rushed for 103 yards on 14 carries, including two first-half touchdowns. He broke a 31-yard touchdown run on fourth-and-2 to give the Friars the lead for good on the final play of the opening period.
Thomas, a junior and the son of the coach, had 17 carries for 79 yards, including a touchdown.
Arizona-committed quarterback Noah Fifita, also a junior, rushed for two scores and senior running back Chris Hernandez added one.
Servite racked up 237 yards on the ground behind an offensive line that featured seniors Will Leys, Bryce Leos and Connor McClure, juniors Mason Graham and Josiah Laban, sophomore Vaka Hansen and junior tight end Ty McDowell filling in for Burnett.
“The offensive line was pretty good,” Bandy said. “They did everything they had to do. It was a really good game to run the ball.”
Servite’s secondary made it a tough night for senior quarterback Colt Fulton to throw the ball. The left-handed senior seemed to have few open receivers against a secondary led by Avinger and Michael Hurst at cornerback and seniors Jack Kane and Nick Jako at safety.
Kane grabbed his third interception that led to a second-half touchdown while Hurst, a junior, recorded a tackle for loss and broke up a pass. The San Diego State-bound Avinger helped blank senior wide receive Reymello Murphy in the first half and Jako recorded a tackle for loss.
“Our kids really studied their film,” Thomas said of his secondary. “One of the biggest things about Servite is that we’re smart. If just stay together, stay calm, we can make the adjustment, and they do.”
Ben Florentine and Hansen added sacks for the Friars, who held the Eagles (2-3, 1-3) to 162 yards offense.
Fulton completed 14 of 27 passes, including a short touchdown in the second-half for Murphy. Ian Grogan rushed for a score in the first half for the Eagles.
“They’re short-handed a little bit but they played tough,” Santa Margarita coach Anthony Rouzier said of Servite. “It’s hard to win when you don’t stop the run.”
The Friars’ student section was warned by the officials in the first half about not banging its drum right before the Eagles’ play and soon compiled with the request. But the section, nicknamed the Asylum, stayed vocal throughout and pushed a team already playing for its seniors.
“The seniors really have been through a lot,” Bandy said. “This is a great win for us. We dominated on both sides of the ball, and it was just perfect.”
| Servite | 14 | 7 | 14 | 7 | 42 |
| Santa Margarita | 7 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 13 |
SER – Bandy 1 run (Mcvay kick)
SM – Grogan 2 run (Wilson kick)
SER – Bandy 31 run (Mcvay kick)
SER – Fifita 3 run (Mcvay kick)
SER – Fifita 11 run (Mcvay kick)
SER – Thomas 3 run (Mcvay kick)
SER – Hernandez 9 run (Mcvay kick)
SM – Murphy 2 pass from Fulton (Fulton run failed)
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
Rushing: SER - Bandy 14-102, Thomas 18-80; SM - Santillan 7-18, Grogan 1-2
Passing: SER - Fifita 8-10-0-122; SM - Fulton 14-27-1-151
Receiving: SER - Welsh 3-59; SM - Lopez 3-68, Murphy 4-40, Grogan 2-28
By Dan Albano
Friday, April 16, 2021
The Orange County Register
