Chaminade football falls to Oaks Christian, still hopeful for the season

On Aug. 26, the Chaminade Eagles traveled to Oaks Christian to take on the Lions in the opening game of the season.

The Eagles scored quickly with running back T.J. Pledger rushing it in. Oaks Christian answered quickly with a touchdown but a failed two-point conversion. Chaminade went into halftime down 30-21. Coming out of the half, the Lions scored quickly off of a blocked punt in the end zone. Chaminade continued to battle but were unable to walk away with the win, losing, 65-55.

Eagles Coach Ed Croson believes this game could show where they need improvement and to learn what this team is really made of.

“We just played a really good team and sometimes you find out a lot about yourself early in the season and we’re just getting started here with a young bunch of guys,” Croson said.

Regardless of the loss, this is just the beginning of the season and there is a lot to improve on, “We don’t push the panic button. We just say ‘hey we gotta get better so we’re gonna learn something from this and we’ll get better,’” Croson added.

Junior wide receiver Michael Wilson caught eight passes for 220 yards and two touchdowns. Wilson had a huge impact for the Eagles coming off of an injury from May.

“It felt great. Especially I was coming off my injury from May, so it really shows that the process and the hard work all pays off. I’m very excited and I’m very happy with the way I performed today,” Wilson said.

Junior quarterback Brevin White completed 12 of 24 passes for 317 yards, three touchdowns, and one interception. White transferred from Alemany to Chaminade in his sophomore year.

“It was a great feeling coming out here. All these boys have welcomed me with open arms and these are my new brothers. I couldn’t wait to get out here and play against a big opponent like Oaks Christian and see what we could do, granted we took the loss but for me I was very impressed with how we handled it and there were mistakes that were made in every aspect on the field,” White said.

In the third quarter, White broke out on a broken play for an 83-yard rushing touchdown to bring his team within two points of tying it up.

“It was originally a pass play, I was feeling the pressure in the pocket and I saw T.J. [T.J. Pledger] and I was thinking of dumping it off but he was covered so I just took off,” White said. “I got a couple good blocks by our receivers and then I cut it back and 20 yards out I was dying, I’m not built for 80 yard runs. But there I was just trying to help my team in any way possible and that was the outcome.”

After White’s first game as an Eagle, he believes his team has the capability to be great and is impressed with how they played in their opening game.

“We put a lot of points on the board. This is the highest scoring game I’ve ever been a part of and I thought our guys battled hard,” said White. “I think that was the best thing about this game, we never gave up when we were down by more than two touchdowns, we battled and we battled and made it a close game but in the end we couldn’t take it. There is nowhere to go but up from here so I’m very proud of this team.”

The St. Bonaventure Seraphs travels to West Hills to take on the Chaminade Eagles on Sept. 2 at 7:00 P.M.

–Mason Larson