Week 4 was capped with the news that Santa Margarita quarterback Johnny Stanton would be done for the season after tearing his ACL. The news brings to an abrupt halt the end of a dynamic prep career for the school’s all-time leader in total offense.
Stanton played the entire game for the Eagles in their 35-27 non-league win over St. Bonaventure (4-1).
With the Eagles (5-0) as a top-10 team nationally, word of Stanton’s knee quickly became a national story with well wishers sending tweets his way.
The quarterback responded in upbeat fashion via twitter: “Thank you SO MUCH to EVERYONE who has sent me their wishes and prayers. This is all part of His plan and I plan to work that much harder.”
Stanton finished the game against the Seraphs with 132 yards and two touchdowns and also had 100 yards on the ground and a score. The Eagles will turn to junior Josh Canty to try to fill the very large shoes of Stanton. The Eagles are still No. 1 in the PAC-5 but their chance to repeat all of a sudden looks bleak.
While that was an exciting game featuring a couple of Southern Section juggernauts, in a couple of big intersectional matchups, the City Section really flexed its muscle.
In a game seen on Prep Zone right here on FOXSportsWest.com, Narbonne (4-0) defeated Serra (4-1) for the second straight season, 22-9. It was a game in which speed and next level talent were all over the field. With a bye week, Washington head coach Steve Sarkisian was on hand to check out the gem of his 2013 recruiting class, Narbonne quarterback Troy Williams. There were also representatives from UCLA and Cal, who was in town to play USC.
There was also a plane that flew over the game at Serra High School that read “Oregon State football. Go Beavs!” As for the play on the field, the Narbonne defense forced five turnovers.
The Serra defense continued to impress and kept the Cavaliers in the game while holding to Gauchos to, by far, their lowest point total of the season. It was a win Narbonne needed badly to keep their State Bowl hopes alive.
“They’re going to be fine,” said Narbonne head coach Manuel Douglas of Serra. “They’re going to have a great year. It doesn’t hurt them that they lost as far as state aspirations. They just need to keep winning. For us, it helps us dramatically.
“Next year, they’re going to be real good. Unfortunately I got to play them again next year and I’m not going to have what I have this year.”
On Friday, the Gauchos will host Mater Dei (4-0) in a battle of unbeatens.
While Narbonne’s win didn’t come as much of a surprise, Crenshaw’s win at Oaks Christian was heard all throughout the high school football landscape. A game that went to halftime in a scoreless tie saw the Cougars hand the Lions their first defeat of the season, 13-2.
It’s the first time in program history Oaks Christian (4-1) failed to score a touchdown. The Crenshaw (4-1) defense picked off five passes in the win. Even more inspiring is the fact that the Cougars boast just a 30-man roster. They’re a last second field goal against Westlake from being undefeated on the season.
“They understand it doesn’t take an army to play football,” said Crenshaw head coach Robert Garrett to the L.A. Times.
In another intersectional matchup, Corona Centennial got the best of Carson (0-5), 45-24. The Huskies improved to 3-1 under head coach Matt Logan. More good news followed when Logan’s daughter, Samantha –a member of the Corona Centennial girl’s basketball team--- committed to Cal State Fullerton on Monday.
After going 1-19 over the last two seasons, La Salle is out of the gate at 5-0.
It’s still September but Crespi is 6-0 after defeating Westlake (3-2) 43-17.
Servite has played two games now with a new offensive coordinator and have yet to score a point. The Friars (1-3) were shutout by Bishop Gorman 42-0.
Edison (3-1) suffered their first loss of the season, 20-14 to Mater Dei. The Chargers will visit San Clemente (4-1) on Friday in the Game of the Week, which can be seen at 8:30pm on FOX Sports West. The Tritons are coming off of their first loss of the season as well –a 28-7 defeat to Newport Harbor (2-2). San Clemente succumbed to a host of injuries, including their top two quarterbacks. They’ll look to rebound on Homecoming night against the Chargers.
On Monday, St. John Bosco self reported the use of an ineligible player and has forfeited their first four games of the season. The player was essentially a fifth year senior, in his ninth semester of high school. The Braves will head to Utah to take on the No. 1 team in the state, Jordan. The Braves are now 0-4 on the season.
“The news won’t deter what our goal is,” said St. John Bosco head coach Jason Negro to the Press-Telegram. “We wanted to self-report this early, so we didn’t jeopardize our season.”
Also 0-4 on the season is Cerritos. The Dons have been outscored 234-0 on the season and they won't have a chance to score their first points of the season or win a game. The varsity program has been shutdown for at least the remainder of the season , citing player safety, according to reports. The school will, however, compete at the junior varsity level. The Dons were supposed to open Suburban League play against Bellflower last Friday but didn't. Numerous attempts to reach the Cerritos administration were not immediately returned.
Week 4 Top Performers:
El Toro (5-0) quarterback Conner Manning completed 45-of-59 passes for 613 yards and seven touchdowns in the Chargers 77-46 win over Valhalla (2-2). The 613 yards are an Orange County record according to OCVarsity.
Valencia (2-2) quarterback Sean Murphy completed 23-of-35 passes for 399 yards and five touchdowns in the Vikings 41-13 win over Santa Monica (2-2).
Villa Park (4-1, 1-0 Century League) quarterback Dylan Osborne completed all 10 of his passes for 240 yards and two touchdowns –all in the first half of the 47-13 win over El Modena (2-3, 0-1 Century League) in the league opener.
