After routing Oxnard, 49-14, in the first round of the CIF-Southern Section Western Division playoffs on Nov. 9 at Serra, the Cavaliers were looking forward to facing Ocean League champion Santa Monica in what was expected to be a good match-up between two physical and fast teams in the quarterfinals last Friday at Serra.
Instead, the Vikings proved to be no match for the Cavaliers, who rolled to a 58-6 win.
After routing Oxnard, 49-14, in the first round of the CIF-Southern Section Western Division playoffs on Nov. 9 at Serra, the Cavaliers were looking forward to facing Ocean League champion Santa Monica in what was expected to be a good match-up between two physical and fast teams in the quarterfinals last Friday at Serra.
Instead, the Vikings proved to be no match for the Cavaliers, who rolled to a 58-6 win.
Serra raced off to leads of 27-0 after the first quarter and 44-6 at halftime and it proved way too much for Santa Monica, which came into the quarterfinals after a 44-0 thrashing of Templeton from the always highly competitive Los Padres League in the first round a week earlier.
The Cavaliers scored on all four of their possessions in the first period. The onslaught began with 10:08 left in the quarter on a 3-yard touchdown run by sophomore running back Malik Roberson, his first of two TDs.
Adoree Jackson made it 13-0 with 6:39 remaining in the period with a 12-yard TD run.
With 1:33 to go in the quarter, junior quarterback Jalen Greene found senior wide receiver Darrell Fuery from 20 yards out, and on the period’s last play, Greene tossed a 34-yard scoring pass to junior wide receiver Gregory Webb.
The Vikings, who were left helpless through most of the game, scored their only touchdown with 9:57 remaining in the second quarter 5-yard run by running back Yachal Butler, but that would not stop the bleeding.
Serra added 17 more second period points on a 23-yard TD run by running back-wide receiver Marques Rodgers and a 4-yard run from Roberson and a first half ending 29-yard field goal by kicker Sifa Maama.
Most of the second half was running time but the Cavaliers outscored Santa Monica, 14-0, with one touchdown each in the third and fourth periods.
Jackson scored his second touchdown on a 26-yard run with 7:43 left in the third quarter and freshman defensive back Brandon Burton, who spent most of the regular season on Serra’s junior varsity team, put an exclamation mark when he intercepted a pass by ex-Cavalier quarterback Ryan Barbarian and returned the ball 89 yards for the final score.
“We didn’t think we would win by this much,” Jackson said. “We knew we would win. We just want to leave it on the field.”
The win upped the Cavaliers’ record to 10-2 entering Friday’s semifinal at top seed Lompoc. The Braves advanced by way of a 49-6 rout of host Culver City, a team that eliminated Serra in the first round last year, last Friday in the quarterfinals.
Roberson, ranked one of the top sophomore running backs in the United States and appears to be right up there where now University of Southern California standout wide receiver Robert Woods was as a sophomore at Serra five years ago, rushed for 227 yards and two touchdowns on 10 carries, all in the first half.
The Cavaliers kept the ball mostly on the ground as they rushed for 419 yards.
Serra’s defense showed their former player, Barbarian, a familiar scene. They intercepted him four times. Barbarian transferred to Santa Monica from Serra last summer.
Head Cavalier coach Scott Altenberg called his team’s performance as “The most complete game of the season.”
“I’m worried about Lompoc,” Altenberg said. “They’re a great team.”
The Braves have an outstanding running attack as they rushed for 379 yards and five TDs in their easy win over the Centaurs. Like Serra, Lompoc is very physical with outstanding team speed.
