Though no South County team qualified to compete in this weekend’s California state bowl championship game, a horde of South County football players will be participating in Saturday’s Division III-A title game as members of the Bishop’s School Knights.
Bishop’s recorded a 28-9 victory over Cerritos Valley Christian in last Saturday’s Division III-A Southern California regional playoff game to advance to the state bowl championship game.
The Knights (14-0) will play Northern California regional champion Oakdale (13-2) in the state bowl championship game. Kick-off is 6 p.m. at La Jolla High School.
Bishop’s won the 2010 state Division IV championship.
South County standouts on the Knights 2016 team include Justin Woodley and Mozes Mooney. Woodley caught four passes for 58 yards while Mooney had four catches for 44 yards in last Saturday’s regional playoff win. Isaiah Dawson, another South County standout on this year’s Bishop’s squad, had two catches for 80 yards.
The Knights, who boast seven South County players on their roster, generated 357 yards it total offense, scoring 21 points in the second half after leading 8-3 at halftime.
Quarterback Jeffrey Jackson passed for 236 yards and two touchdowns — one each to Woodley and Dawson. He also rushed for two touchdowns to help spearhead the team’s offense.
Jackson completed 58.1 percent of his passes, though he did throw one interception.
Mooney netted one interception on defense. As a team, Bishop’s collected three sacks — one each by Dominic Haley, Daniel Anderson and Woodley.
Mooney also punted twice for 74 yards, including one punt for 44 yards.
Anderson led the Knights with 11 tackles.
The six San Diego Section divisional champions all earned regional playoff berths — four won to advance to state bowl championship games. Cathedral Catholic (Division 1-AA), Madison and La Jolla Country Day also will play for state bowl titles.
Madison (12-2) and Cathedral Catholic (14-0) will play back-to-back games Friday, Dec. 16, in Sacramento State’s Hornet Stadium.
Madison, this season’s San Diego Section Division I champion, will tackle Valley Christian (13-1) at 4 p.m. while Cathedral Catholic, the section’s 2016 Open Division champion, will meet St. Mary’s (14-1) at 8 p.m.
Division IV section champion La Jolla Country Day will host Oakland McClymonds (12-1) in the Division 5-A state bowl championship game on Saturday, Dec. 17, at 6 p.m.
It was an uphill battle for both Cathedral Catholic and Madison in their regional playoff games against Harbor City Narbonne and Calabasas, respectively.
Cathedral Catholic led 14-7 at halftime and 28-14 entering the fourth quarter but the Gauchos put up 14 points to tie the game. The Dons escaped with a late touchdown to prevail 35-28.
Sophomore Shawn Poma, who led the Dons with 174 rushing yards, scored the go-ahead touchdown with 1:01 left in the game. The Cathedral Catholic defense then sealed the game with a quarterback sack after Narbonne had advanced to the Dons’ 17-yard line in the dying seconds.
Madison found itself down, 21-14, to the visiting Coyotes after the opening quarter and were tied 28-28 at halftime. Calabasas built a 40-28 lead by the end of the third quarter and led by as much as 19 points in the fourth quarter.
A big 25-point quarter by the Warhawks, capped by a 46-yard field goal by David Lantz as time expired, sent the game into overtime tied 53-all.
Madison scored on its first possession in overtime as Erick Buchanan scored his fifth touchdown of the game on a five-yard run. The Warhawk defense then denied the Coyotes on their overtime possession as Madison pulled out a dramatic 60-53 thriller.
La Jolla Country Day once again rode the fortunes of record-setting quarterback Braxton Burmeister, who passed for 351 yards and five touchdowns while also rushing for two scores in a 63-42 win over visiting El Monte Arroyo.
The Torreys piled up a staggering 684 yards in all-purpose yards in recording the victory.
Of the six San Diego champions, Mater Dei Catholic (Division II-AA) and Horizon Christian Academy (Division 6-A) failed to advance past the regional round.
Horizon, the 2016 Division V section champion, ended its season with a 66-22 loss at undefeated Strathmore.
State Bowl Championship Scoreboard
Division 1-AA
Cathedral Catholic defeats Stockton St. Mary’s, 38-35, in overtime
Division 2-AA
Madison defeats San Jose Valley Christian 21-17
Division 3-A
Bishop’s falls short to Oakdale 47-0
Division 5-A
La Jolla Country Day falls short to Oakland McClymonds 20-17
