JSerra Loses to St. John Bosco, 48-14

JSerra’s offense took care of its turnover problem Friday by playing a conservative game and not giving the ball away. Last week, the Lions committed six turnovers that led directly to a disappointing two-point loss.

Now, if only JSerra could find a cure for its ailing defense and special teams.

The Lions surrendered an 80-yard punt return, an 85-yard kickoff return, and a 90-yard pass play — all for touchdowns — and were routed by St. John Bosco, 48-14, in their Trinity League opener on homecoming night at Saddleback College.

JSerra fell behind 14-0 after the first quarter, 27-0 at halftime, and 34-0 early in the third quarter before avoiding the shutout on its seventh possession of the game.

In its first four games this season, JSerra’s defense allowed only 78 points and posted three victories. However, in their last two games, the Lions have surrendered 89 points and more than 700 yards against Damien and St. John Bosco.

It doesn’t get any easier for the unranked Lions (3-3 overall, 0-1 in league), who next must face Servite (5-1, 1-0), the top-ranked team in CIF Southern Section Pac 5 Division, Friday at Cerritos College (7:30 p.m.). The Friars upended ninth-ranked and previously undefeated Orange Lutheran (5-1, 0-1), 21-8, on Friday.

If there was a bright spot for JSerra, outside of the lack of turnovers, it was again the play of sophomore running back Casey Eugenio.

Coming off a 107-yard, three touchdown performance last week, the 5-foot-8 tailback carried 22 times for 132 yards and caught three passes for 68 yards, including one on a middle screen pass from quarterback Jake Hall, which he took 42 yards for the Lions' first touchdown. Eugenio also scored the Lions' other touchdown on a four-yard run, completing an eight-play, 61-yard drive with 4:05 remaining in the game.

Yet, despite his performance, Eugenio, who accounted for 200 of his team’s 366 total yards, admitted it was difficult to feel good about the game.

“I’m feeling pretty bad right now,” he said. “We were trying to figure out how we were going to run in this game. We just didn’t have enough offense in the first half. We wanted to hang onto the ball and score some points to take the pressure off our defense so they could stop the ball.”

After completing 21 of 42 passes last week, JSerra quarterback Jake Hall attempted only 13 passes (four in the first half) and completed seven for 138 yards.

After punting on its first possession, St. John Bosco scored three consecutive touchdowns, including one that followed a pooch kickoff they recovered on the Lions' 35. The Braves extended their lead to 27-0 just two minutes before halftime when Bryce Treggs returned a punt 80 yards for a touchdown.

On the opening series of the second half, St. John Bosco marched 80 yards in nine plays, culminated by a seven-yard touchdown pass from Rene Medina (12 of 20, 196 yards) to tight end Derrick DePalma for a 34-0 lead. And the rout was on.

“Our defense has to make plays and stop them so our offense can do the work,” Eugenio said.

After Eugenio’s first touchdown, the Braves came back two plays later as Medina found Treggs wide open at the 40 and he ran untouched for a 90-yard touchdown. Then, after Eugenio’s second touchdown, the Braves’ Taylor Cochran took the ensuing kickoff and appeared to be stopped at the 25. But he bounced to the outside and ran down the right sidelines untouched for an 85-yard score.

With top-ranked Servite up next, Eugenio admitted it won’t be easy for the Lions.

“We have to prepare in practice, come back next week, work hard and come back ready to play,” he said. “We’re not giving up.”