Here are some of the Daily News’ stories from the football semifinals on Friday, Nov. 17.
Newbury Park football beats Thousand Oaks to secure trip to Division 5 championship
By Haley Sawyer, Staff Writer
NEWBURY PARK – Friday night’s CIF Southern Section Division 5 semifinal game brought two of the Canyon League’s finest back together in Newbury Park and Thousand Oaks.
The Panthers came away with their second win of the season over the Lancers, beating them 22-19 in a rivalry rematch at Newbury Park.
“It was a routine win.” Panthers running back Jaxon McKinney said. “It’s another crosstown rivalry game, but we play every game like it’s our last.”
Newbury Park (10-3) will play Orange Vista in the championship game on either Nov. 24 or Nov. 25.
McKinney scored two touchdowns in the game, including a nine-yard touchdown run that gave the Panthers a one-point lead with 3:53 left in the game. Quarterback Brady Smigiel connected with Blake Bryce for a successful 2-point conversion afterward to make it 22-19.
“I feel fantastic,” coach Joe Smigiel said. “How can you not? This doesn’t happen very often. This is a special group of guys that just believed the entire way.”
Newbury Park went 55 yards in five plays on their first drive of the game, capping it off with an 11-yard touchdown run by McKinney.
The Panthers weren’t as successful on their next possession. Thousand Oaks’ Dean Harrington had a tackle for loss, then sacked Brady Smigiel for a loss of five yards.
It was a historic night for the Lancers (9-4), as well, who were making their first CIF-SS semifinal appearance since 2015 and were doing so under first-year head coach Ben McEnroe. Previous coach Evan Yabu, who now coaches at Notre Dame of Sherman Oaks, was on the sideline to support.
“You roll out there with 16 new starters and then you had the catastrophic injuries that we had, to get tot he semifinals and have a chance to win is pretty special,” McEnroe said. “They’ve exceeded everybody’s expectations around town, around campus. Just so proud of these kids.”
The Lancers had a touchdown called back due to an illegal motion call on their ensuing possession, but Jackson Taylor connected with Brolin Harrah on a 19-yard pass to get to the 4-yard line. Thousand Oaks fumbled on the next play.
Cory McEnroe sacked Smigiel to close out the opening quarter to keep the Panthers from putting up any last-second touchdowns. However, Newbury Park put together a scoring drive on their first full possession of the second quarter when Balen Betancourt punched in the ball from the 3-yard line at the 8:23 mark. Smigiel set up the touchdown run with a 48-yard pass to Shane Rosenthal.
Thousand Oaks got on the board with 4:47 remaining in the half, just as steady rain began to fall. The Lancers went for it on a fourth down and a pass interference call gave them a fresh set of downs and move the ball to the to the 18-yard line. They had two incomplete passes before Taylor connected with Silas Kemp to bring the score to 14-7.
The Lancers came out of the halftime break to score two touchdowns in the third quarter. Taylor threw a 77-yard touchdown to Scott Mahannah for the first, and later threw a 44-yard pass to Blake Lauritzen on a third down to set up Brolin Harrah’s three-yard touchdown rush and a 19-14 lead.
“We just had to chop wood, keep going,” McEnroe said. “And that’s what they did.”
Newbury Park went for it on a fourth down, and Thousand Oaks appeared to make a big stop. The chains were brought onto the field for measurement and proved the Panthers did, in fact, get a first down with roughly five minutes left to play.
The Lancers’ Preston Handler broke up a pass on third down, but the Panthers were able to get a fresh set of downs shortly after when Shane Rosenthal hauled in a 10-yard pass from Smigiel.
McKinney finished off the drive with a nine-yard touchdown run, securing a trip to the championship game. Defensive pressure from Newbury Park forced Taylor to throw an incomplete pass on fourth down for a turnover on downs with 1:40 remaining in the game.
“When you get this far, you’re going to have tons of adversity, no matter what you do,” Joe Smigiel said. “You’ve got to overcome it together, that’s it. It’s a together deal. It’s a family deal and it’s belief in one another.”
McKinney finished off the drive with a 9-yard touchdown run and Smigiel connected with Blake Bryce after for a successful two-point conversion for a 22-19 final score.
Mater Dei football overpowers Sierra Canyon in Division 1 semifinals
By Steve Fryer, Staff Writer
SANTA ANA – It’s rematch time. Again.
Mater Dei beat Sierra Canyon 42-14 on Friday at Santa Ana Stadium in a CIF Southern Section Division 1 football semifinals.
The Monarchs (11-1) will play St. John Bosco (11-1) in the Division 1 championship game for the third season in a row. The game is Friday, Nov. 24, at the Coliseum.
Mater Dei lost to St. John Bosco 28-0 on Oct. 13.
Mater Dei senior quarterback Elijah Brown, who is committed to Stanford, completed 13 of 19 passes Friday for 180 yards and two touchdowns. Senior running back Ajon Bryant rushed for 110 yards, including touchdown runs of 1 and 55 yards.
Mater Dei first-year head coach Frank McManus said Friday’s game showed how much the Monarchs have improved since their loss to St. John Bosco.
“We’re almost where we need to be,” McManus said. “We’ll have a good week of practice next week and get ready for the next game. I’m excited about the opportunity to play (St. John Bosco) again.”
Sierra Canyon finished 11-1. The Trailblazers were CIF-SS Division 2 champions last season.
Trailblazers junior quarterback Wyatt Becker, who committed to Utah on Wednesday, completed 20 of 41 passes for 251 yards and one touchdown. Junior running back Dane Dunn rushed for 74 yards and a touchdown on 15 carries.
Mater Dei had a 28-7 lead at halftime. In the third quarter Brown threw a 36-yard touchdown pass to Marcus Brown and Trenton Dunn scored on a 1-yard run to make it 42-7.
With the 35-point lead to start the fourth quarter the final quarter was played with a running clock.
Mater Dei cashed in on an early Sierra Canyon turnover to score quickly in the first quarter. Chuck McDonald picked up a fumble at the Trailblazers 24 and returned it to the 2. Bryant got his first touchdown two plays later on a 1-yard run for a 7-0 lead.
Two plays into their next possession, the Monarchs scored again, on a 55-yard run by Bryant to make it 14-0.
Sierra Canyon cut its deficit on the final play of the first quarter, a 3-yard touchdown run by Dane Dunn, to trim the Mater Dei lead to 14-7. An interception by Jae’on Young, which was only the fifth interception thrown this season by Brown.
The Monarchs began pulling away in the second quarter. Running back Jordan Davison, in his first game action since the Monarchs loss to St. John Bosco on Oct. 13, scored on a 1-yard to finish an eight-play, 66-yard drive that extended the lead to 21-7.
A 14-yard touchdown pass from Elijah Brown to Marcus Harris with 11 seconds remaining in the half gave the Monarchs a 28-7 halftime lead.
St. John Bosco defeated Centennial of Corona 43-42 in the other semifinal Friday.
St. John Bosco beat Mater Dei in the Division 1 final last year. Mater Dei beat St. John Bosco in the 2021 Division 1 final.
The two teams also met in the CIF Southern Section’s top division championship game in 2013, ‘16, ‘17, ‘18 and ‘19.
Birmingham football charges past Carson to return to City Open Division championship
By Aaron Heisen, Correspondent
LAKE BALBOA — The initial play of Friday night’s L.A. City Section Open Division semifinal game was a harbinger of things to come, a knockout blow in a spot that tends to be a testing jab for Birmingham.
The Patriots usually plod through their first drive, hand the ball to Ronnell Hewitt, establish the run and observe how the defense lines up against their playmakers on the outside.
Instead, one of those playmakers — senior Peyton Waters — took the kickoff 96 yards for a touchdown on the opening play.
“Just something you see as the blocks open up,” Waters said about the return. “You know, cut it back, that’s usually how most returns go. We practice that.”
That opening-play touchdown wasn’t the last highlight for Waters in a 35-6 win over Carson that takes Birmingham into the Open Division championship.
Birmingham (10-2), trying to win the Open title for the fourth year in a row, will play Garfield at Valley College on Saturday, Nov. 25, at 7 p.m.
“Peyton was outstanding,” Birmingham head coach Jim Rose said about his receiver who had four catches for 77 yards and two touchdowns including that 96-yard dash.
Quarterback Kingston Tisdell opened 5 of 5 for 106 yards and finished an efficient 9 of 12 for 174 yards and two touchdowns, his patience on display throughout.
Like the kick-return strategy, the Patriots also practice establishing the run early. It’s a philosophy Rose lives and dies by, one that has been employed throughout each of the blowouts that have ravaged the West Valley Lthis season. It’s an approach that helps to open the playbook as a game progresses.
That was made easier Friday with their offense having a seven point lead when it first received the ball. The Colts (10-2), a run-first team, struggled to play from behind.
While Waters found space after the catch to score his second touchdown, Tisdell’s ability to cycle through his progressions helped create a balanced offense.
On the first play of Birmingham’s third drive of the game Tisdell targeted Waters down the right sideline and he climbed back through the defensive back, scaling him to corral the pass. Though it was ultimately revoked for an offensive pass interference on Waters, the attention he drew helped set up a touchdown seven plays later.
Credit to Tisdell, who looked Waters’ way only to be dissuaded by a double team, before spinning his attention toward the seam where Antrell Harris Jr. streaked through a crease. Harris Jr. hauled in Tisdell’s touch pass to put the Patriots up 14-0.
Hewitt added 62 yards on 18 carries, scoring twice himself.
Similarly to Birmingham, if Carson can establish its run, punch its opponent in the gut, fatigue can set in and it’s tough to stop. But Friday against the Patriots, Carson was rarely able to penetrate their front.
“I thought we played great run defense,” Rose said. “They have a real good ground game because that running back (Jerry Misaalefua) is so tough, but we’re going to out-physical you at the line of scrimmage.”
The Patriots forced Misaalefua, who had just one game this season with under 100 yards on the ground before Friday, to fumble in the second quarter. The defense had two interceptions that helped seal the game in the second half.
