Bishop O’Dowd blanks Christian for 5-AA state football title

All good things must come to an end. They did Friday night for the Christian High School football team.

The San Diego Section Division 3 champions saw their six-game winning streak and state title hopes smashed as Oakland Bishop O’Dowd shut out the Patriots 37-0 in the Division 5-AA state championship game at Buena Park High School.

“If there’s one thing these guys have learned this year is perseverance,” said (by phone) Christian coach Patrick Bugg, whose team started the season 2-7 before going on the playoff run. “Life gives you ups and downs, but these guys always remained even-keeled. It would have been easy for them to get caught up and thrown in the towel, but they didn’t. The captains and leaders wouldn’t let that happen.”

This was the second state title claimed by O’Dowd. The Dragons won the 5-AA title back in 2016, capping off the 15-1 season by beating Moreno Valley Valley View 20-16 in the state final.

The game started innocently, with each team trading three-and-outs. But from their second possession of the game, it was all Dragons (11-4).

They struck fast.

On a third-and-8, O’Dowd quarterback Christian Cermenelli-Johnson hit senior wide receiver Ian Garrick up the left sideline for a 45-yard touchdown to take a 7-0 lead with 7:39 left in the opening quarter.

All night long, the Patriots (8-8) were haunted by their own penalties and the O’Dowd pass rush.

The defense gave Christian early life when senior defensive end Jacob Zacharzuk’s fumble recovery stopped another deep first-quarter Dragons threat at the 21.

A 30-yard run by freshman Julian Morones brought Christian into O’Dowd territory, but the drive stalled, and the Patriots turned the ball over on downs at the Dragons’ 36.

O’Dowd then marched 64 yards on six plays, taking a 14-0 lead on Cermenelli-to-Bryan Edwards 19-yard TD pass with 1:40 left in the first quarter.

They made it 21-0 on their first possession of the second quarter after a shanked punt gave the Dragons the ball at the Christian 39. Four plays later, Anthony Hassell went in from the 9.

They would put the game out of reach by scoring TDs on their first two possessions.

Frustrated by Christian’s run defense all night, the Dragons’ Lamar Ellis finally broke free for a 20-yard score with 7:35 left in the third quarter for a 28-0 lead. The Patriots held Ellis to just 51 yards on 10 carries.

“The defense has been carrying us all year,” Bugg said. “Sometimes the numbers don’t look like that, but it was almost always the offense putting them in a bad spot.”

The Dragons would up the advantage to 34-0 four minutes later as Oc Lehner scored from a yard out.

A highlight for the Patriots on the night was the play of freshman running back Julian Morones. He led all rushers with 87 yards on 13 carries. Quarterback Kaleb Runkle rushed for 51 yards on 13 carries.

Under the relentless O’Dowd pass rush, Runkle was only able to complete 10 of 26 passes for 98 yards. He was sacked five times and was constantly under pressure.

Cerenelli-Johnson completed 10 of 28 passes for 202 yards and two TDs.

Division 5-AA State Football Championship Game

At Buena Park High School

Oakland Bishop O’Dowd 37, Christian 0

Bishop O’Dowd – 14 7 13 3 – 37

Christian – 0 0 0 0 – 0

B – Garrick 45 pass from Cermenelli-Johnson (Brien kick)

B – Edwards 17 pass from Cermenelli-Johnson (Brien kick)

B – Hassell 9 run (Brien kick)

B – Ellis 20 run (Brien kick)

B – Lahner 1 run (kick failed)

B – Santucci 23 FG