Serra 42- Cathedral 3

The ride from Serra to Cathedral is much easier than the ride to Chaminade, and the ride home was much, much happier. After two tough losses, even Scott Altenberg must have gone down to Chinatown wondering if it would be another night of "it might have been." Cathedral came into the game undefeated and averaging 40+ points a game.

At for most of the first quarter, it didn't look good: Serra stopped the Phantoms in three downs, then had the ball taken away on its own first series. Starting at their own 34, the Ghosts ran off twelve consecutive pass plays, seven completions. The drive ran out of gas at the Serra nine, fourth and five at the Serra 9, Cathedral thought about long and hard; then decided to kick a field goal. Phantoms 3 - Serra 0, and serious questions about Serra's pass defense.

Serra cleared up some of the doubt immediately. Starting at the twenty, Serra scored in nine plays: six runs and three complete passes. Anterio Bateman's kamikaze catch over the middle on the sixth play was one for the highlight reel. Greene finished the drive with a nice pass to Darrell Furey in the Phantom's endzone gave Serra what turned out to be a winning margin, 7-3 with 1:45 and three quarters left to play.

Something should be said about Serra's patented kickoff technique. It's more like a penalty kick in soccer than anything traditional to football. Sifa Maama stands back only about three strides and kicks higher than long. The ball is usually fielded at about the twenty-five, and so far, it's never returned further than the thirty five. And so it was that play restarted at 1:40 in the first.

Cathedral went three and out; Serra four and out, Cathedral three and out. On Cathedral punted for the fourth time at 11:30 in the second. Anterio Bateman fielded the ball on the bounce and turned in a dazzling Cavalier return that ended with a horse collar tackle at the thirty. Tack on fifteen, and it was Serra first and ten at the Cathedral fifteen. Anterio Bateman was injured on the play, spent the rest of the night bundled up on the sideline and is reported questionable for next week.

Serra moved to the seven on a quick pass, then half the remaining distance because the Phantoms were caught playing thirteen men on defense. Two Cavalier running plays went nowhere. Altenberg disdained the field goal. It looked like a bad decision, the Phantoms swarmed around Jalen Greene -- he managed to escape and rolling to his left forced the safeties to protect against the run. Greene lofted a nice pass to Furey left in the west corner of the Phantoms' endzone. Point after perfect, Serra 14- Cathedral 3. 9:31 left in the half.

Cathedral held the ball for a little less than a minute. The vaunted Cathedral passing attack went flat: a few drops, a few bad passes, pressure on the quarterback and much improved coverage in the secondary. Cathedral was again forced to punt, but the Phantoms were too proud to punt the ball out of bounds.

Adoreé Jackson made them pay. Fielding the sixth Phantom punt of the half, Jackson ran west, he ran north, he ran south, then west again, ten steps and a juke, another ten and a broken tackle. He finally came to the ground at the Cathedral six, and, mirable dictu, there was no laundry on the field. Serra scored on its second play, Jalen Greene running four yards over right guard to the endzone. Point after good, Serra 21 - Cathedral still holding on to three. Seven minutes left in the half.

The Phantoms demonstrated their quick strike potential on the next series. Two good routes, two good passes, and Cathedral had moved for its own twenty-two to the Serra 35. The next pass would have been a touchdown, but the pass was under thrown. But that was that. Despite a roughing call, Cathedral's drive aborted when Adoreé Jackson intercepted at the Serra twelve. 5:46 remaining in the half.

A promising Serra drive likewise aborted when the Phantoms intercepted a deep out at their own 46. 3:40 remaining in the half.

Two plays and the third offense abortion. In the most athletic play of the night, Keanu Hill made a leaping over the shoulder interception at Serra's eleven. Hitting on all cylinders, the Cavs moved the ball in eight straight highlight film plays to the Phantom two. With six seconds remaining, Jalen Greene burrowed into the scrum. Ten seconds later the refs found him buried under a mound of Phantom and Cavalier linemen, the ball over the goal line. Touchdown with no time remaining. PAT good, Serra 28 - 3 at halftime.

Half time memories. Only a week ago, Serra was leading at half and seemed to have Chaminade's number. Then things went south. Take nothing for granted.

Jackson's great catch kept Cathedral's second-half kick out of the endzone, he tightroped away from the endline, then squirted up field, sixty-seven yards later, it was Serra first and ten at the Phantom 29. Two plays later, Marques Rodgers ran around the Phantoms' left for Serra's fifth TD. Serra was unable to get the ball down on the PAT try. Serra 34 - Cathedral 3

After a pretty good kickoff return, Cathedral went four and out, turning the ball over at Serra's 44. Two good runs, then Darrell Furey managed to get behind the Phantom secondary, despite a slightly under thrown ball, Furey went untouched into the endzone. A quick pass using that wacky split out lineup that seems to be no more than a gesture, and Serra converted for two, 42 - 3 at 9:10 of the third quarter.

With a forty point lead, Altenberg took his foot off the gas, giving his bench some playing time. The defense continued to stifle an increasingly frustrated Phantom offense. The Serra offense managed one first down in four possessions, but committed no turnovers.

It ended quietly with the kind of score the Cavs had become used to. It begins to look good for the rest of the league schedule. The chance of league championship looks very remote, but the Cavs remain in the Times top 25, and Cavs can hope for final redemption in the CIF playoffs.

Next week it's St. Francis at St. Francis. The Gilded Knights although three and four and winless in league play cannot be taken lightly. They have a potent offense, and have fallen just short in both league losses.

MaxPreps - Serra Football - Varsity (Schedule, Roster, Photos and Stats)

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Daily Breeze - Serra dominates previously unbeaten Cathedral 42-3    

Los Angeles Times - This weeks Times' High School Football Rankings