WHITTIER – The La Serna football team was shut out for the first time since 2021 as the Lancers were stunned by Crean Lutheran at home on Friday night.
A week after Crean Lutheran (4-1) lost their starting quarterback, Caden Jones, to a knee injury, freshman Dylan D’Epifanio stepped up in his first career start as he led the Saints to a 20-0 win over La Serna (3-2).
“I did this for the seniors on our team. It’s their last year here, their starting quarterback went down and it was almost like they lost all hope,” D’Epifanio said. “This is for the seniors on our team, it’s not about me, it’s about the team.”
La Serna head coach Andy George said his team did not play up to their standard.
“It’s pretty clear we didn’t play up to our potential tonight,” George said. “ They have a very strong defense, throwing everything at them and (we) just didn’t get it going offensively.”
La Serna had a near-perfect opening drive to start the game. Sophomore quarterback Jordan Bonilla got the start and led the offense for a 17 play, nine-and-a-half-minute long drive that stalled out inside the red zone.
The Lancers trotted out the field goal unit and had the kick blocked by one of Crean Lutheran’s captains, Taurian Nash.
After a quick three-and-out forced by La Serna’s defense. Bonilla and the offense got the ball back at decent field position near their own 35 yard line.
When the Lancers were near midfield, disaster struck as Saints defensive lineman Anthony Jones got a strip sack on Bonilla and Crean Lutheran recovered.
The Saints would turn around and score a few plays later as D’Epifanio aired it out to junior wide receiver Dillon Booth on the side of the end zone for a 15-yard touchdown.
That would account for the only touchdown of the half as the Lancers were held scoreless in the first half for the first time all season.
Crean Lutheran would tack on a field goal to make it 10-0 going into the half.
When the Saints opened on offense to start the second half, they drove down the field in a lengthy seven minute drive. The Lancers eventually forced Crean Lutheran to a 39-yard field goal that was no good.
Sophomore quarterback Grady Long led La Serna’s offense to start the second half. The offense couldn’t put together any consistency as a few untimely muffed snaps led to the Lancers playing off schedule.
Long was able to make a couple of throws with his lively arm but opportunities were few and far between as Crean Lutheran’s pass rush was too much for La Serna’s offensive line to handle.
Early in the fourth quarter, Nash added a 2-yard rushing touchdown for Crean Lutheran as that would be the final nail in the coffin for La Serna.
George said the team needs to go back to the basics to find its rhythm offensively.
“We didn’t do a great job blocking, and running our offense the way we know how. So we gotta get back to the basics, clean up the mistakes, and be more physical up front.”
La Serna will head to Edison on Sept. 27 to close out its nonleague schedule before heading into Del Rio League play.
