Second in a series this week on San Diego Section playoff matchups:
A month ago St. Augustine was an unlikely candidate for a Southern California playoff spot.
The Saints were coming off a shocking, 27-24 loss to Madison in a game that had been postponed because of lightning bolts three days before, at a point in the late third quarter when St. Augustine led, 24-7.
The defeat, after losses to Helix, 34-14, and Cathedral, 35-14, left first-year coach Joe Kremer’s squad reeling with three losses in four weeks.
The Saints righted themselves and enter this step of the state eliminations in Division II-AA on a five-game winning streak, highlighted by a 21-20 win over Helix in the Week 14 San Diego Section D-I final.
The Saints escaped by the thinnest margin, a fumbled snap by Helix in overtime on a two-point conversion attempt. The Highlanders had kicked a point to tie the game, 21-21, but Helix coach Robbie Owens, presented with an opportunity when St. Augustine was penalized on the PAT, decided to opt for a two-point option and victory.
The Helix error sent the Scots packing and the Saints on a 168-mile jaunt to Cal Lutheran University, where they will meet Simi Valley Grace Brethren Friday night at 7:30.
The Grace Brethren Lancers have an advantage of Cal Lutheran’s being barely 12 miles and a 20-minute drive from their campus.
Such a travel edge usually can be overcome, but the Lancers (12-2), predicted to win, 24-21, by Cal-Preps.com, and with a rating of 59.1 to 51.7, are ranked 16th in the state by Max Preps, compared to St. Augustine’s 32nd, and 24th, compared to St. Augustine’s 47th, by Cal-Hi Sports.
QUICK KICKS
The Lancers are 0-1 against San Diego teams, having lost to host The Bishop’s, 21-20, in 2005…Grace Brethren defeated Paramount, 41-12, in the Southern Section playoffs…Paramount scored a 26-18 victory over San Diego Section Mission Hills in the season opener…Brethren is a member of the Camino League, which includes Santa Barbara Bishop Diego, Moorpark, Camarillo, and Thousand Oaks…the Lancers like to give the ball to 5-foot-8, 225-pound running back Lontrell Diggs, who averages 167.9 yards a game and has scored 32 touchdowns, tied for 17th as the most in the state…quarterback Mikey Zele has passed for 1,567 yards and 9 touchdowns…St. Augustine is led offensively by three underclassmen, sophomore quarterback Angelo Peraza (2,396 yards, 25 touchdown passes), junior wideout Samuel Scaife III (48 catches, 14 touchdowns), and sophomore running back Byron Cardwell (1,081 yards and 5.1-yard average, and 13 touchdowns.
