East County Sports

Cougars’ comeback thwarted by Knights

2021 EAST COUNTY PREP FOOTBALL

 

ST. FRANCIS 32, STEELE CANYON 25 (OT)

 

EastCountySports.com staff report

 

MOUNTAIN VIEW – The Steele Canyon Cougars nearly pulled off its second big road comeback of the season but ultimately fell to host St. Francis, of La Canada, 32-25, in overtime on Friday night.

 

Major Givens rushed for 230 yards and scored three rushing touchdowns for Steele Canyon.

 

After a scoreless first quarter, the Golden Knights got a touchdown in the opening minutes of the second quarter.

 

However, the Cougars dented the scoreboard on a safety credited to junior safety Joseph Haisch, who made a tackle in the end zone for two points.

 

Givens scored on a 30-yard touchdown run in the second quarter to give Steele Canyon a 9-8 lead with under seven minutes to play in the second quarter.

 

The Knights converted a key fumble recovery into a 40-yard scoring drive in the final two minutes of the first half.

 

St. Francis was able to head into halftime with a 15-9 lead following an 8-yard touchdown run.

 

The Golden Knights used up nearly half of the third quarter to engineer a touchdown drive for a two-touchdown lead on quarterback Max Garrison’s second score of the night.

 

Steele Canyon senior Isaiah Walker intercepted a pass at the Cougar 5-yard line early in the fourth quarter to stop a St. Francis scoring threat.

 

Trailing 22-9 midway through in the fourth quarter, Givens scored on a 15-yard run, receiving a backward screen pass from Manzo, which allowed Givens the space to get to the end zone.

 

Moments later, the Cougars scored another two points on a second safety of the game, coming with over four minutes to play and drawing Steele Canyon (1-6) to within 22-18.

 

A fourth-and-10 roughing the passer penalty kept the Cougars’ ensuing drive alive and Givens ended up rushing in from 3 yards out to put Steele Canyon ahead 25-22 following the point-after by David Martinez.

 

St. Francis (4-1) was able to put together a drive that resulted in a game-tying 37-yard field goal with four seconds remaining in regulation.

 

The Golden Knights drove the 25 yards for an opening score in overtime, capped by a 2-yard quarterback run by Garrison, the third of the evening for the three-star QB.

 

The Cougars overcame a sack on its drive in OT to get down to the Golden Knight 1, but a pair of procedure penalties on 3rd down proved costly.

 

Senior Gehrett Potts had two tackles for loss for Steele Canyon, while teammate Adrien Chargualaf led the defense with six tackles, including one for loss.

 

Prior to the game, St. Francis High dedicated its stadium to the the late Golden Knights’ head coach Jim Bonds, who passed away last Oct. at the age of 51. He coached the team to a school-record 160 career victories.

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