After a year absent from the CIF championship game and its Mission League opening disappointing 28-20 loss to host Chaminade High in West Hills on Oct. 5, Serra High’s football team has been looking forward for this year’s CIF-Southern Section Western Division championship game since those times.
The Cavaliers set the stage for their Western Division championship showdown with the Eagles by eliminating host and top seed Lompoc, 34-21, in their semifinal last Friday.
After a year absent from the CIF championship game and its Mission League opening disappointing 28-20 loss to host Chaminade High in West Hills on Oct. 5, Serra High’s football team has been looking forward for this year’s CIF-Southern Section Western Division championship game since those times.
The Cavaliers set the stage for their Western Division championship showdown with the Eagles by eliminating host and top seed Lompoc, 34-21, in their semifinal last Friday.
Serra will host Chaminade for the championship and a possible spot in the California State Division II Bowl Series on Friday at 8 p.m. The contest will be televised on Fox Sports West Cable.
The Cavaliers’ victory over the Braves ended Lompoc’s 32-game winning streak that dated back to the 2009 season. Lompoc won three consecutive CIF titles since. It also avenged two three-point playoff losses to the Braves from the 2002 and 2003 seasons.
On top of that, it was a great 42nd birthday present for head coach Scott Altenberg, who had his birthday on Friday.
Serra hopes to give him an even bigger present; to revenge its league loss to the Eagles and a Western Division title. It would be the Cavaliers’ third CIF crown in four seasons.
Serra, which improved to 11-2, continued to have a fine performance from junior quarterback Jalen Greene, who completed six of 12 passes for 132 yards and three touchdowns. Greene also rushed for 82 yards on eight carries.
Malik Roberson, one of the top sophomore running backs in the United States according to some observers, also shined carrying the ball 21 times for 178 yards and one TD. He gave the Cavaliers a 34-14 fourth quarter lead with his 47-yard scoring run.
With the score tied at seven after the first quarter, Serra went to work outscoring the Eagles, 17-0, in the second period for a 24-7 halftime lead. After a 27-yard field goal by Ryan Dobson, who transferred to Serra from Playa del Rey St. Bernard over last summer (due to St. Bernard suspending its varsity football team for a year), had touchdown passes from quarterback Jalen Greene to Darryl Fuery from 55 and 25 yards out.
The third quarter, then, saw Dobson (who is also expected to be a baseball standout at Serra) connect on a 32-yard field goal to give the Cavaliers a 27-7 advantage, before the Braves responded with a 3-yard TD run by University of Washington-bound running back Lavon Coleman.
The Cavaliers came back with Roberson’s touchdown run early in the final quarter.
Greene also tossed a 22-yard TD pass to wide receiver Adoree Jackson for the game’s first touchdown, before Nikko Hayes tied the game on a 30-yard scoring run.
Hayes rushed for 115 yards and two touchdowns on 19 carries.
Defensively, Serra forced three turnovers on Lompoc, which finished its season at 12-1. The Cavaliers also had two fourth down stops on the Braves.
