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Junipero Serra High School Alumni eNewsletter
Where's Adoreé?
Cavalier victory 56-10
The entry to St. Paul's stadium is a narrow breezeway bounded by locker rooms. While St. Paul football players were suiting up their voices echoed in that hall way. "Where's Adoreé?" There was a rumor that he was on his way to Tennessee.
But Adoreé was right there in Santa Fe Springs, locked and loaded. He ran at, around and through the St. Paul Swordsmen as if there were so many traffic cones on a test track. And Adoreé was not alone. All the Serra skill players looked like they were stars of a choreographed football movie, running against extras whose were being paid to miss tackles.
Scott Altenberg coached the game like one of those celebrity all-star games. Players shuffled players in and out, creating never before tried combinations of stars and subs on both offense and defense. It was the football equivalent of the Globetrotters vs the Washington Generals.
Serra took the opening kickoff south on St. Paul's new turf field for a touchdown in eight plays. The drive was led, not by Jalen Greene, but by sophomore Kahlil Tate. Tate polished off his first varsity start with a nine yard touchdown pass to Isaac Cox. Total elapsed time 2:07. PAT good. Serra 7-St. Paul 0
St. Paul managed a first down, drawing Serra's adlib defense offside on fourth and 1. But two plays later, "there's Adoreé." Jackson intercepted Jacob Maier's pass at the 50 and carried it in for a touchdown. Another two plus minutes had passed. PAT good. Serra 14 - St. Paul 0.
On the next possession, St. Paul got a first down on another Serra penalty, but then had to punt. Jalen Greene resumed his seat at the controls. On second down, he threw an 8 yard pass to Cox cutting over the middle, Cox ran left, turned 180 in a blink, ran right and simply shot pass twelve Swordsmen as if they were wearing lead in their shoes. Touchdown. PAT good. Serra 21- St. Paul 0. Three more minutes had passed. 4:15 remained in the first.
Three plays later, Jackson intercepted Maier again, shrugged off two St. Paul tacklers and shot down the far sideline for another TD. PAT good. Serra 28-0 Two minutes left in the quarter, time for at least one more score.
St. Paul managed to keep the ball on the next series, but didn't manage a first down. Serra needed five plays, four complete passes, to score again. PAT good. Serra 35- St. Paul 0 with ten seconds remaining in the first quarter.
Altenberg continued shuffling players for experience and memories. St. Paul did a little better against some of these combinations. They went eight plays and three first downs before they were forced to punt. It took Serra three plays after that punt to score its sixth touchdown. These included a terrific pirouette run by Darrion Naylor, and a great catch and run for the touchdown by Jordan Lasley. Serra 42 St. Paul 0 with 5:30 remaining in the half.
Working again against a cobbled defensive lineup, St. Paul ran hard and took advantage of Serra miscues. St. Paul advanced to the 20. Fourth and three at the twenty with 20 seconds left, the Swordsmen kicked a 37 yard field goal. The Serra crowd cheered -- for St. Paul who avoided the shut out, for the Cavalier defense who avoided a touchdown..
A Serra fumble early in the third quarter gave St. Paul the ball in Serra territory. Thirteen scrappy plays later, and the Swordsmen had the first score of the second half. Serra 42 - St. Paul 10
Kahlil Tate had the controls after St. Paul's kickoff, and drove the Cavs down the field for a touchdown. The drive finished with a fine throw on the run to Deontay Burnett. PAT good. Serra 49 St. Paul 10. Clock running.
Four plays later and it was Kitu Humphrey returning another St. Paul punt for the final score of the game. PAT good. Serra 56 St. Paul 10.
And honest, fans, Altenberg did what he could to take the proverbial foot off the pedal. Serra could have scored a hundred and a shut out. The Cavs showed respect for the Swordsmen who were as long on heart as they were short on athleticism, and that's a good thing.
Serra is an automatic qualifier for the CIF playoffs, but there is a possibility that Serra will be seeded in the open division. The first round pairing should be announced Sunday.
Pat Lynch '59
CIF Game vs Pacifica
Friday November 15th
kick-off time is either 7:00pm or 7:30pm
Brenda Delorise Danley
Serra was blessed from 1993 through 2000 with the presence of Mrs. Brenda Danley on campus.
To honor Mrs. Danley, Ayana Grundy Parker '97 put together a committee of her '97 classmates including December Bolden, Kenae Danley, & Kevin Martin to honor Ms. Danley. The Cavalier Spirit Award was presented to Ms. Danley at half time of the Serra-St. Francis game for "7 years of Outstanding Vision, Dedication and Commitment to Excellence to the Pep/Cheer Squad at Junipero Serra High School.
The committee and Mrs. Danley were joined by other pep/cheer members from the '90s and teachers Norm Chavez and Dwan Hurt. A special thanks to Ayana Grundy Parker for organizing this special night.
 
Tom Alford '63Tom Alford '63 invests 3 hours 3 days a week tutoring Serra students in Algebra I and II, Geometry, Pre-Calc and Calculus. Tom is at capacity with students. If you have the skills and want to be a part of Serra's academic success, call me. Here's Tom working with some of his students. 
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