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SHERMAN OAKS — A size advantage for the Leuzinger High School football team became too much to overcome for Notre Dame in a CIF Southern Section Division 5 quarterfinals match-up on Friday night.
The Olympians bested the host Knights, 21-13, holding off a comeback attempt and advancing to a semifinal contest against Etiwanda High next week.
Leuzinger fell behind on the game’s opening possession, when Joaquinn Arroyo drilled a 36-yard field goal for a 3-0 advantage. The Knights pushed their lead to 6-0 when the junior kicker connected on his second field goal of the night.
The Olympians offense came to life near the end of the second quarter. Following Arroyo’s second field goal with just over five minutes remaining in the half, senior quarterback Will Doherty led an impressive nine-play, 80-yard scoring attack that culminated in a rushing score from Damonte Bias.
Doherty was perfect on the drive, going 4-for-4 passing for 51 yards before Bias plunged in from 8 yards out for a 7-6 lead with 1:43 to go in the first half.
The Olympians (6-6) leaned on their size advantage coming out of the break, dominating time of possession in the second half. They held the ball for more than 11 minutes in the third despite not adding to their score.
A lengthy drive stalled at the 11 to open the second half. After forcing a three-and-out, Leuzinger flexed its muscle while rushing for over 90 yards on the ensuing drive. Bias scored his second touchdown of the night to finish the drive.
“The biggest thing for this year has just kind of been knowing our assignments,” said Leuzinger coach Brandon Manumaleuna. “Those guys are really focused in and have learned what they’re supposed to do and we’ve taken an onus on of trying to be the bully.”
Bias rushed for 155 yards on 15 carries. He ripped off a whopping 132 on just 10 second-half totes. As a team, the Olympians racked up 194 yards in the second half.
“I know one thing, he better get on the track next semester,” said Manumaleuna through a laugh. “A couple of those I thought he was going to take the house and ended up getting caught. Credit to their defense though. He’s just a hard guy to bring down. He’s shifty in the open field.”
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Jhacob Blenman capped the scoring for the Olympians when he plunged into the end zone on a running back direct snap with just under four minutes to play, extending the lead to 21-6.
The Knights (5-7) closed the gap with less than two minutes to play when Wyatt Becker hit Kian Salehi for 13-yard touchdown with 1:24 to go. Leuzinger recovered the ensuing onside kick and one first down from Bias allowed them to take a knee and advance.
“It was a great effort,” said Knights coach Joe McNab. “We fought to the last play. They were a good team. We were a good team. They just made one more play than we did”.