Chaminade football cruises past St. Bonaventure, 49-7

On Sept. 2, the St. Bonaventure Seraphs traveled to West Hills to take on the Chaminade Eagles in a non-conference matchup.

The Eagles scored quickly and with force taking an early 14-0 lead at the end of the 1^st quarter. Chaminade walked into halftime with their heads up content with their lead of 28-7. The Eagles scored a touchdown 11 seconds into the 3^rd quarter and they did not stop there. They continued to put points on the scoreboard coming away with the 49-7 win.

Running backs T.J. Pledger and Andrew Van Buren had themselves quite the night combining for 14 carries, 182 yards, and four touchdowns. Pledger and Van Buren showed great toughness and adversity proving it hard to take them down.

Senior Safety Jahlil Pinkett had a very strong presence on the field Friday night with an interception returned for a touchdown and a punt return taken back for a touchdown, which was called back due to an illegal block in the back penalty.

“We were just out here working all week and we made it happen. I just do what I did. We just came together” said Pinkett. “This is a big season for all of us. So we’re planning on going far and hopefully that’s what is going to happen. Got a lot of faith in our team,” Pinkett added.

Pinkett returned an interception for 95 yards and a touchdown to increase the lead for Chaminade.

“The ball just came to me,” said Pinkett.

Pinkett returned a punt for 65 yards and a touchdown as well but the touchdown and the 65 yards were taken back due to an illegal block in the back penalty.

“I shook the first defender off and I had nowhere to go. I looked back and I saw a blocker coming my way so my teammates made sure I was cool and I got there,” said Pinkett.

Sophomore quarterback Ryan Stevens completed four passes out of eight for 105 yards and a touchdown. Stevens, normally the goal line QB for Chaminade, played most of the game.

“This team is like my family, I love being around them. All the kids are great, great bond between the teammates,” said Stevens regarding his relationship with the team.

Stevens came in for Brevin White, who was taking a lot of hits, but will be fully healthy for next week’s matchup.

“To me it was whoever could help the team for the win, and Brevin went down so I had to step up and play for the win,” said Stevens. “It was a fun win. We came out here strong, played great, and everybody just contributed greatly across the board,” Stevens added.

Stevens really had a lot of praise for his linemen who continued to protect him all night.

“I have some of the best linemen and they just protected me all night. I only took one late hit and that was it, the entire game. Most of the win tonight came from the linemen,” Stevens said.

Stevens feels confident in his team and the direction things are going in.

“We’ve got to keep doing what we’re doing. We don’t need to have this as our peak we just need to grow from it and this is just the beginning not the end. We’ve got to grow out of this win,” Stevens added.

On Sept. 9, the Valencia Vikings travel to West Hills to take on the Chaminade Eagles at 7 p.m. It should be a great one to witness.

–Mason Larson

Photos by Peter Yu