Reseda Needs a Little to Go a Long Way, 7-0

There was nothing pretty about the Reseda High offense.

At times, in fact, it was downright ugly.

But that didn’t seem to matter after the Regents pounded out a 7-0 victory over Manual Arts in the City Division semifinals Friday night at Jackie Robinson Stadium.

They are heading to the championship game next Friday at the Coliseum, and 21-year Coach Joel Schaeffer says that’s the bottom line.

“I’m not out to inspire people with our offense,” Schaeffer said. “I’ve been [to the final] four times now and I don’t stray from what I believe in.”

In this case, it meant sticking with a rushing game that has accounted for most of Reseda’s yardage.

The rushing attack was tested in the first half.

The Regents (9-4), who will play Chatsworth for the title in a rematch of a season opener won by Chancellors, 35-13, had few problems moving the ball. Holding onto it was another matter.

Reseda drove 55 yards on its first possession only to have quarterback Skyler McKnight stopped on a sneak on fourth down at the Manual Arts 10.

Usually reliable running back Joseph Looney, who entered the game with 1,009 yards rushing, also struggled with two fumbles in the half.

It wasn’t until the Regents’ final possession of the half that they finally clicked, taking a 7-0 lead on a 48-yard touchdown pass play from McKnight to Eric Ceja with 51 seconds left in the first half.

Little did anyone suspect that those would be the only points of the game.

In the second half, the Regents used their ball-control rushing attack to keep the Manual Arts offense off the field.

Despite his early difficulty, Looney finished with 156 yards in 24 carries.

McKnight completed four of seven passes for 77 yards. Ceja had two receptions for 59 yards.

When Manual Arts (6-7) did get the ball, the Toilers couldn’t do anything with it.

They finished with only 161 yards and quarterback Marco Acietuno had three passes intercepted, all by Gerard Jones.

Acietuno, who entered the game with 28 touchdown passes, completed only five of 21 passes for 52 yards.

All of which served to make Schaeffer a happy man.

“I’m so proud I could burst,” he said.