By Joe Snyder
Coming off two disappointing losses to Orange Lutheran and Long Beach Poly on the road, Serra came home and faced Cathedral High from Los Angeles, which entered the contest with a 2-0 record.
The Cavaliers finally got both their offense and defense in gear and rolled over the Phantoms 33-6 in the non-league contest to improve to 1-2.
Serra had a fine game by junior Cincere Rhaney who helped Serra get it going by scoring his first touchdown in a 70-yard fumble recovery and a 3-yard run that gave the Cavaliers a 20-0 first quarter lead.
Serra’s defense stifled Cathedral by forcing four turnovers. Despite Phantom quarterback Aidan Moss completing 16 of 38 passes for 286 yards and rushing for 83 more, he was constantly pressured, especially from Jaggar Tavai and Tanu Sosa. Moss was intercepted three times, two of those by Cordell Montgomery in just a 1:12 span of the first period.
After previous starting quarterback Jason Mitchell struggled in the first two games, especially in Serra’s 17-3 loss to host Long Beach Poly on Aug. 26, head Cavalier coach Scott Altenberg opted to go with sophomore Jimmy Butler. Butler did respectfully by completing eight of 18 passes for 159 yards and one TD; that to Roderick Pleasant for a 28-yard score. Wide receiver Zacharyus Williams caught four passes for 108 yards.
Serra will be at home for an- other very challenging game against Warren High from Downey Friday at 7 p.m. The Cavaliers defense, for the second straight year, will have to contend with five-star recruit quarterback Nico Ianaleava, who already committed to University of Tennessee after he graduates from Warren in June.
Ianaleavy, who started as a freshman at Long Beach Poly, transferred to Warren as a sophomore in the 2020-21 season and continued to play there last season. Ianaleava, though, first decided to transfer back to Poly but changed his mind and returned to Warren. He already had two fine games in the Bears’ wins over Grossmont from the San Diego area and Whittier LaSerna.
Currently, the Cavaliers are ranked 15th and Warren 16th in the overall CIF-Southern Section by Maxpreps. Last year, Serra lost to the Bears 14-0 that included an injury of quarterback Maalik Murphy, who was out the next three games before the now University of Texas player led the Cavaliers to CIF- Southern Section Division III, Southern California Division IA and CIF-State Division IA championships.
