Bishop Diego football suffered its second straight shutout defeat on Saturday at La Playa Stadium in the form of a 42-0 loss to St. Bonaventure.
Saturday’s battle featured two teams moving in two different trajectories. The Cardinals (2-5, 0-2 Marmonte League) have now lost five straight after opening the year with two wins, while the Seraphs (5-2, 2-0 ML) secured their fifth straight win after losing the first two games of the year.
It is the first time since the 2007-08 seasons that Bishop Diego has lost five consecutive games, according to local broadcaster John Martony. A plethora of injuries throughout the roster has heavily impacted the Cardinals on their losing streak.
“Unfortunately, when your roster is small, and you’re playing this stiff of competition, if you lose somebody, there’s a domino effect,” Bishop Diego head coach Tom Crawford, who is in his 27th season, said. “It impacts both sides of the ball, and special teams usually.
“It’s something I have not really experienced that I can remember. We’ve had seasons where there’ve been injuries, but it seems like this year, it’s been a losing two guys per game sort of deal… We’re kind of stuck in a position where we’ve got guys playing out a position simply because we’re having to do that.”
The Seraphs put together a strong drive to open the game and seemed to be on their way to scoring, but Bishop Diego’s Tyler Roberts came up with an interception in the end zone to flip the momentum.
However, the ensuing Cardinal drive ended in a punt that gave St. Bonaventure the ball near midfield. The Seraphs took advantage of the field position, marching down the field and scoring on a 5-yard run by Tony Dargan to take a 7-0 lead with 3:04 left in the first.
Bishop Diego responded with a methodical drive inside the St. Bonaventure 20-yard line as the game flipped to the second quarter. After a third-down rush went for no gain, the Cardinals faced a 4th-and-4 from the 12-yard line. Crawford opted to go for it, and the pass fell incomplete to turn it over on downs.
St. Bonaventure maintained its momentum on the offensive side of the ball, gaining 50 yards on the first two plays on the ensuing drive. A few plays later, Dargan burst free for a 30-yard touchdown run to double the lead to 14-0 with 6:38 left in the half.
“We had the opportunity to put points on the board, and we didn’t do it,” Crawford said. “That’s been a little bit of what we’ve been experiencing, which is not taking advantage of opportunities… We’ve got no rhythm right now, offensively.”
The Seraphs continued to dominate down the stretch of the opening half, forcing another punt and adding on a 27-yard touchdown pass from Jaxson Carper to Christian Carmona to take a 21-0 lead into halftime.
Bishop Diego opened the second half with its longest drive of the day, using 10 plays and most of the third quarter to get into St. Bonaventure territory with a 3rd and 8. However, the third-down snap was fumbled and the Cardinals were forced to punt.
The Seraphs then needed just five plays to find the endzone on a 90-yard drive. After a few plays to get near midfield, Carper gave a pop pass to Antonio Spann on an end around, and Spann broke off a 53-yard touchdown to make it a 28-0 lead with 2:35 left in the third.
St. Bonaventure’s dominance continued on the next two drives, forcing a quick three-and-out and scoring in just two plays, this time on a 30-yard passing touchdown from Carper to Spann.
The duo’s second score in as many drives gave the Seraphs a 35-0 lead with 11:53 left in the game, triggering a running clock for the rest of the game.
“I think if we had a little bit of success on one side of the ball, it would carry over to the other side,” Crawford said.
“It’s been tough, but as I said to the guys afterwards, the real question is whether you can walk off the field and think, ‘Hey, I played as hard as I could from start to finish.’ That’s a foundation for turning around and getting back on the right track.”
The running clock didn’t slow down the Seraphs, who forced another Bishop Diego three-and-out and scored on the very first possession of their next drive.
This time, Carper dished a screen pass to Jamonie Lewis, who weaved through the defense on his way to a 54-yard touchdown and a 42-0 lead with just under seven minutes to go.
That proved to be the final score, as the ensuing drive drained the rest of the clock to give St. Bonaventure the road victory.
It won’t get any easier for the Cardinals, who will now host powerhouse Pacifica next Friday at La Playa Stadium. Crawford and his young depleted roster will look to continue to battle and learn against another tough Marmonte League opponent.
“I said it in the huddle afterwards, ‘You may not execute every play and you may not win every play, but if the effort’s there, with experience and continued focus on practice, those things start to come,’” Crawford said. “We have some very young guys that are playing, and they’re earning their stripes, so to speak, at this stage.
“They don’t have the luxury of lower competition to do that, and so there’s this balance of trying to not damage their confidence and keep them motivated to recognize that they’ve got potential if they just keep working.”
