This is the sixth of eight consecutive editions in which the News-Press looks back at the area’s 2008-09 seasons, school by school, before looking ahead at the year to come.
With their talents and exploits often overcome by the rigors of the ultra-tough Mission League, St. Francis continued to show through the 2008-09 school year why it is always possessing of one of the area’s top athletic bodies.
And while no program was able to claim a league title, it was hardly a sign of struggling times.
An abundance of teams — cross-country, football, basketball, baseball, track and field, golf and tennis — achieved measured postseason success, with the tennis, basketball and baseball teams producing comeback tales.
Of course the biggest highlight came from what is likely the school’s most acclaimed program — soccer.
Beyond any shadow of a doubt, after advancing all the way to the CIF Southern Section Division I finals after a fourth-place league showing, the Golden Knights’ semifinal run would have been highlight enough.
But Coach Glen Appels’ bunch, led by Eric Verso and Nick Rihn, took it three steps farther, winning the Southern California Regional Championship.
Here are the abundance of Golden Knights highlights:
Sept. 12, 2008 — Quarterback Justin Sciarra has three total touchdowns, while running back Dietrich Riley notches a score and 114 yards rushing in just 11 carries, as the St. Francis football team makes a statement with a 54-7 win in its opener against Arcadia.
“We just wanted to come out and show what we’re capable of doing — playing Knight ball, plain and simple,” Riley says. “It’s a new beginning. We’re ready. We’ve got a whole new team, attitude, more chemistry, we’re looking real good.”
Sept. 20, 2008 — In the annual nonleague “Battle of Foothill Blvd.,” Riley leads the Knights football team to a 27-13 triumph with a then-career-high 212 yards in 22 carries, also scoring three touchdowns.
Oct. 10, 2008 — Even without Riley, the football team begins the season with a 5-0 start after a 4-6 campaign the season prior.
Receiver Malik Speed hauls in a pair of touchdown catches as the Golden Knights romp past El Rancho, 45-7.
“We feel pretty good as a staff to be 5-0,” Bonds says. “We are just trying to get things straightened out, because we are staring at the gauntlet with our remaining schedule.”
