St. Genevieve Leaves Carpinteria in the Dust

After a first half in which they appeared to need a road map to find the end zone, the St. Genevieve Valiants blew the doors off Carpinteria, 28-12, Friday night at Birmingham High.

The win advanced St. Genevieve (9-2) to the second round of the Desert-Mountain Conference playoffs.

Perhaps the Valiants found an atlas at halftime.

After being tied, 6-6, at the half when Carpinteria tailback David Adcock scored on a one-yard run with nine seconds remaining in the second period, the Valiants accelerated like Porches, scoring twice in the third quarter and once more in the fourth.

Junior running back Eric Gunther, who replaced the injured Jeff De La Cruz, was cruised to 131 yards and two touchdowns on 23 carries.

“Eric was academically ineligible much of the season,” Valiant Coach Lindon Crow said. “He worked hard in the classroom and came on strong at the right time.”

St. Genevieve quarterback Andy Sherman made his night’s work look easy. The 6-1, 190-pound senior completed 16 of 28 passes for 296 yards and two touchdowns--both to wide receiver Steve Escovar in the second half.

A 46-yard score with 4:31 left in the third quarter broke the 6-6 tie. Escover, a 5-7 speedster, turned a five-yard catch into the biggest play of the game by wrestling loose from one defender and high-stepping by two more Warriors who dove at his heels.

“We needed that one,” said an elated Escovar. “Once I turned past the first guy, I picked my feet up on every step down the sideline.”

St. Genevieve had 427 yards in total offense and Gunther and Sherman ran and passed for it all. Brendan O’Connor caught five passes for 120 yards and Escovar had six catches for 94 yards.

“They beat us with big plays,” Carpinteria Coach Lou Panizzon said.

Escovar’s second reception was St. Genevieve’s last score. With Sherman scrambling, the diminutive receiver stood in the far corner of the end zone waving his arms like someone hailing a taxi in New York City. Sherman spotted him and tossed the ball across field for a six-yard touchdown.

Carpinteria, which was led by the hard running of sophomore Jon Keiser (73 yards on 17 carries) and passing of Ruben Zertuche (9 of 13 for 135 yards), evened the game just before the half after driving 84 yards in 1:11.

“We were down at halftime,” Escovar said. “But Coach Crow told us we were moving the ball, we just had to cross the goal line.”

St. Genevieve gained 252 yards in the first half, 96 on runs by Gunther.

The win was the seventh straight for the Valiants, who were Santa Fe League champs with a 5-0 record. Carpinteria, the third-place playoff entry from the Tri-Valley League, ended the season with a 6-5 record.