Bishop Diego Can’t Keep Up With St. Pius X-St. Matthias in 44-13 Non-League Loss

St. Pius X-St. Matthias Quarterback brady Shaffer Tossed Five Touchdown Passes

Daquan Jeffes intercepts the first pass of the game and returns it for a touchdown. | Credit: Victor Bryant

Injuries and youth caught up to the Bishop Diego football team in a 44-13 loss to St. Pius X-St. Matthias on Friday night at La Playa Stadium.

The Bishop Diego defense had no answer for the speed of St. Pius X-St. Matthias on the perimeter as Warriors’ quarterback Brady Shaffer capitalized on mismatches on his way to five touchdown passes.

“We have not been a good tackling team all season and they took advantage of that by getting the ball out into space very quickly,” said Bishop Diego coach Tom Crawford, who’s team played without a single senior dressed for the game.

The opening drive of the game was a bad omen for Bishop Diego. St. Pius X-St. Matthias linebacker Daquan Jeffes intercepted Bishop Diego quarterback John Michael Flint’s first pass of the game and returned it 32 yards for a touchdown with 10:11 remaining in the first quarter.

However, the Cardinals immediately answered with a 16-play, 81-yard drive that was capped off by a ten-yard touchdown run by Flint to even the score at 7-7.

On the first play of the ensuing St. Pius X-St. Matthias drive Shaffer tossed a screen pass to Trevon Dawson for 14 yards. On the next play, Jaylen Stokes took another screen pass 70-yards for the touchdown as the Warriors took a 14-7 lead with 5.8 seconds remaining in the first half.

St. Pius X-St. Matthias receiver Jaylen Stokes beats Bishop Diego defensive back Thomas Gaggs to the corner of the end zone.

After a quick Bishop Diego three-and-out St. Pius X-St. Matthias put together a nine-play, 74-yard drive that was capped off by a 25-yard pass from Shaffer to Treveon Dawson that increased the Warriors lead to 21-7 midway through the second quarter.

“We saw that we had some mismatches,” Shaffer said. “We had guys that could get past the defense and we took advantage of it.”

The St. Pius X-St. Matthias lead ballooned to 28-7 on a 13-yard pass from Shaffer to Stokes with 4:14 remaining in the first half. The Warriors tacked on a safety off of a blocked punt to tke a 30-7 lead into halftime.

Bishop Diego made some adjustments on defense late in the first half and stopped the St. Pius X-St. Matthias on three consecutive possessions to start the second half.

A fumble recovery by Isaiah Kitt set the Cardinals up with excellent field position and they capitalized with a seven-yard touchdown pass from Flint to Dominic Herrera that cut the deficit to 30-13.

The Bishop Diego defense forced a turnover on downs on the next St. Pius X-St. Matthias possession, but their momentum was halted when Oscar Mauia was stopped on 4th-and-2 from the Warriors 23-yard line.

St. Pius X-St. Matthias responded with a 78-yard drive that was capped off by a 12-yard touchdown pass from Shaffer to Dawson that increased the lead to 37-13 with 9:57 remaining in the game.

With the loss Bishop Diego dropped to 1-4 on the season and will begin September 29 against St. Bonaventure after a bye week.

Pacifica 49, San Marcos 14

Pacifica wide receiver Isaiah Dillon scored five touchdowns as the Tritons improved to 5-0 overall and 3-0 in Channel League play. San Marcos dropped to 2-2 overall and 0-2 in Channel League.

Grace Brethren 36, Carpinteria 30

The Warriors led 9-0 at halftime before the Grace Brethren offense exploded in the second half. Carpinteria drops to 2-2 overall with the loss.