Bishop Diego football dropped its seventh consecutive game by a score of 40-14 to Simi Valley on Thursday night at a rain-soaked La Playa Stadium.
The Cardinals (2-7, 0-4 Marmonte League) have now fallen out of CIF-SS playoff contention in a season filled with adversity, from a youthful roster to a plethora of injuries on both sides of the ball.
“We were on our heels from the very beginning, so credit to [Simi Valley]. On a short week, they recognized that we were shorthanded, and they came out and they executed,” Bishop Diego head coach Tom Crawford said.
“When you’re dealing with adversity, you need guys that are willing to compete and step up, and I think we’ve seen that, even though the outcomes haven’t been what we’ve wanted, I think we have seen some guys grow really over the course of the season.”
The Pioneers wasted no time jumping ahead, taking the opening kickoff and marching down the field with ease. Salvador E Villa punched in a 4-yard rushing touchdown to take a 7-0 lead with 9:07 left in the first.
The Cardinals’ next possession was stalled and their punt attempt was blocked, giving Simi Valley strong field position. However, the Bishop Diego defense held strong and stood the Pioneers up on four straight plays for a turnover on downs.
The Pioneers grabbed the momentum right back as Isaiah Arreola stepped in front of a pass for an interception and returned it down to the Cardinal 9-yard line. Two plays later, Villa rushed in the score from 5 yards out to double the lead to 14-0 at the end of the first.
The Simi Valley defense then forced another Bishop punt, setting up a quick four-play drive capped off by an 8-yard touchdown pass from Connor Petrov to Micah Hannah. The extra-point attempt was missed, bringing the lead to 20-0 with just over 11 minutes left in the half.
“I think they had short fields probably on four of their scoring drives, at least. They had very short fields to operate with and they executed really well,” Crawford said. “We didn’t give ourselves much of a chance when we were giving them such short fields.
“It just took us way too long before offensively, we started putting some stuff together.”
The Cardinals responded with their best drive of the night, methodically marching down the field and getting down to the 1-yard line on a big completion to sophomore Kaleo Satele to senior JJ Mercier on the 13th play of the drive.
One play later, senior Mateo Williams barreled into the endzone for the touchdown to cut the deficit to 20-7 with 1:53 left in the half.
The ensuing kickoff went out of bounds, giving Simi Valley the ball at its own 35-yard line. The Pioneers took advantage of the field position, using two big pass plays to get down the field and scoring on a 20-yard touchdown run by Villa.
Villa’s third touchdown of the night gave his team a 27-7 advantage heading into halftime.
The Cardinals opened the second half with a turnover on downs after attempting a fake punt on fourth down that came up just short on their own side of the field.
The Pioneers made Bishop Diego pay for giving them the field position, extending their lead to 33-7 with 6:20 left in the third quarter on a 10-yard touchdown connection from Petrov to Giancarlo Leone.
Simi Valley repeated the process on the next two drives, forcing a Cardinal punt and following it up with a scoring drive to extend the lead. This time, Evan Porhola rushed in the score from 10 yards out to make it 40-7.
That score held until the final play of the third quarter, when the Bishop Diego offense finally broke through as Satele hit Mavaega Luvu in stride and he took it 81 yards to the end zone for the touchdown to cut the deficit to 40-14 heading into the fourth.
That score held until the final whistle, with both teams forcing a turnover on the way. The Cardinal turnover came on an interception by Luvu, who led the team in receiving yards thanks in large part to his big touchdown catch-and-run.
“[Luvu’s] got size, he’s got very good range, he’s got good hands and he’s got a lot more speed than I think people recognize,” Crawford said. “He’s got a ton of potential. This is his first time ever playing defense, so he’s another kid that’s having to play on both sides of the ball, and I think that’s quite a load for anybody.”
While Luvu has improved as the year has gone on, Crawford has been impressed with some of his younger players during this rough patch. Satele has grown under center, while junior Gabe Phillips has shown he can be a playmaker on both sides of the ball.
“Gabe has really, really stepped up. He’s kind of a leader on the team, and his game has improved as the season has worn on, and the role that he knows he needs to take has also increased,” Crawford said. “On the defensive side, he’s gotten better and better. You can just see his confidence grow, so it’s been great to see his development.
“I think Kaleo, at the quarterback position, we’ve seen growth from him as well. He’s evolving into a real leader type kid for us, too.”
Bishop Diego will end the season on the road next Friday against Oaks Christian.
