Bishop Diego hosted West Ranch High School for its first home game of the season at La Playa Stadium. The Tom Crawford-led Cardinals handled business by physically dominating the game, winning 42-13.
Even without key players Remi Boykin and Sammy Boeddeker, the Cardinals played their style of football, but not without a little adversity to overcome first. The offense had a quick three-and-out to begin the game.
To make matters more challenging, West Ranch took over on offense and drove down the field with relative ease, aided by some big runs. The Cardinal defense held its ground, forcing a field goal attempt that sailed to the left, keeping the score 0-0.
“The game started out and we sucked offensively on that first drive, so it was kind of like thinking, ‘Oh boy, are we not prepared for this game?’ I thought the defense kind of righted the ship for us and offset the game,” said Crawford.
The ensuing drive is where the rotation of ball carriers began to take shape, replacing the production of the previous week’s leading rusher, Sammy Boeddeker, who was out. The 6-foot-1, 270-pound Terrence Tasila started the drive with a hard-nosed rush, followed by a 20-yard rush by Connor Boyd that set up the Cardinals in the red zone. Quarterback Kaleo Satele then found running back Mateo Williams on a wheel route for the first points of the game, making it 7-0 with 2:29 left in the first quarter.
The next offensive possession is where Satele showed off his poise and accuracy, finding receiver Joe DeRosa for a drop-in-the-bucket touchdown pass to start the second quarter and make the score 14-0.
“Kaleo (Satele) was pretty excellent in terms of keeping plays alive and keeping his eyes downfield,” said Crawford.
After another turnover on downs by the Cardinal defense, the offense was able to keep the ground game moving, with Nate Hernandez rushing for a 20-yard touchdown to put the Cardinals up 21-0 with four minutes left in the half. Hernandez also snatched two interceptions on the night, showing his dual-threat ability as both a rusher and defensive back.
Crawford highlighted the edge his secondary played with.
“That’s actually something we talked about this week, was developing that kind of mental edge, not letting a bad play or completion destroy your entire series. Having a short memory and being aggressive. Tonight we were better than we were last week in that regard, and hopefully we can build on that.”
One of Hernandez’s interceptions came off an overthrow on the following defensive drive for the Cardinals, giving them one more opportunity to score before halftime. That’s exactly what they did.
The offense marched down the field in the hurry-up offense as Satele found Gabe Phillips for a 25-yard pass to put the Cardinals at the one-yard line. Fusi Tuaave then pounded the rock from one yard out, making the score 27-0 before the half.
The second half followed mostly the same narrative. Bishop Diego continued to control the clock and bruise its way through the defense on offense.
“Going into the season, we felt like our strength and our experience is in the trenches. I think the guys touching the ball are getting more comfortable and confident that the guys up front are gonna move the line of scrimmage and gonna make things happen. So there is a measure of comfort in that,” said Crawford.
Joel Sanchez had his opportunity at running back in the second half and found the end zone not once, but twice, to grow Bishop’s lead even further.
West Ranch was able to find the end zone in the middle of the third quarter and again at the end of the fourth, but ultimately, it wasn’t enough. The final score was 42-13.
Crawford sang the praises of his running-back-by-committee approach.
“We had a lot of guys set up. We have confidence in some of the guys that had experience. Mateo got to carry the ball last year and showed promise. Joel Sanchez stepped up and carried the ball as well as he did, and also with Nate Hernandez. So that’s a bright spot, because if we can be a multiple-headed monster, it’s gonna help us. That was one of the things we hoped to see today, that our run game can still function at a high level despite not having Remy Boykin and Sammy Boeddecker available.”
As for next week’s matchup at Lancaster, Crawford recalled last year’s duel.
“It’s interesting because that game was a barn burner last year, 42-40, I think. It went down to the wire, over 185 plays in the game, high tempo, and it was 100 degrees. They have a very talented team, so we gotta clean up some things, because I think we’re taking that next step in terms of what we have to be prepared to do going into league play, so it’s gonna be a big test for us.”
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