St. Anthony wins first league title since 2017
LONG BEACH ❯❯ The St. Anthony football team left no doubt on their way to winning the Del Rey League title Friday, scoring seven firsthalf touchdowns in their dominant 53-14 win against La Salle at Clark Field. The blowout win was the exclamation point for the Saints (8-2, 4-0), who had not won a league title since 2017.
Senior running back Elijah Lolesio-Pua and junior running back JoJo Apisala, who are cousins, combined for 138 yards rushing and five touchdowns on 20 carries. St. Anthony's defense held La Salle (4-5, 1-2) to 44 yards of total offense in the first half, including zero passing yards.
St. Anthony coach Raul Lara said winning the Del Rey League title has been his goal from day one since he took over the program in 2021.
“We've been thinking about it for a long time,” Lara said pregame. “We just don't want to take anybody for granted.”
“It's been a while and us doing it in three years, I think that's pretty awesome,” Lara said. “We're excited. We're grateful and thankful that the Lord is allowing us to even be in this spot.”
St. Anthony is currently on a five-game winning streak since their 31-13 loss at home to Brentwood in a nonleague game on Sept. 14. Friday's win also avenged last season's 27-7 loss to La Salle.
Before the game, La Salle coach Ben Buys said he wanted his team to play with energy and effort against St. Anthony.
“Excellent effort,” he said. “We call it fanatical effort, maximum strain until the end of the play.”
However, La Salle gave up back-to-back 14-yard runs by St. Anthony's Apisala to begin the game, St. Anthony's Lolesio-Pua pulled off a 20yard TD run with 10:54 left in the first quarter. St. Anthony led 6-0 after failing to convert a two-point conversion.
On the ensuing kickoff, Saints junior receiver Jaxson Bonsall recovered an onside kick. Apisala added a 3-yard touchdown run and a successful two-point conversion run, which put St. Anthony up 14-0 with 8:39 left in the first.
La Salle senior quarterback Zachary Lifton threw an interception, which was hauled in by junior defensive back Sawyer Smalley at the St. Anthony 40. Smalley's interception stopped the Lancers' momentum on their first offensive possession just before they entered scoring position with 6:32 left in the first.
The Lancers' woes continued as they had three straight false-start penalties early in the second quarter that backed them up to their own 13.
Two plays later, La Salle's Lifton threw his second interception of the game, which St. Anthony senior linebacker Raymond Gomez turned into a 25-yard interception return for a touchdown, extending the Saints' lead to 22-0.
St. Anthony recovered their second successful onside kick of the game with 7:21 to go in the first half.
The Saints capped off a 35-yard scoring drive with a 10-yard touchdown pass by senior quarterback Adrian Perez, which was tipped but caught by sophomore receiver Andres Mendoza. Another successful two-point conversion run by Apisala gave St. Anthony a 30-0 lead with 4:07 left in the second.
St. Anthony's defense forced a safety, which extended its lead to 32-0 with 3:57 remaining in the first half. A 7-yard TD run by Apisala gave the Saints a 39-0 lead with 2:40 to go before halftime.
St. Anthony's defense forced a three-and-out and senior Remy Doering's 25yard punt return for a touchdown extended the Saints' lead to 46-0 with 1:19 to before halftime.
A 2-yard touchdown run by Apisala, his third of the game, put St. Anthony up 53-0 with five minutes left in the third.
David Vanden Bosch had a 1-yard touchdown run with 1:27 left in the third to get the Lancers on the board.