DOWNEY - Early in the second quarter Friday night Los Angeles Cathedral quarterback Justin Alegria, who had passed for 191 yards all season, was throwing on every down.

His team's situation had already become that dire.

When the Phantoms tried to mount an improbable comeback through the air at that point, St. Joseph already had 28 points. The Knights kept pulling away and finally won in a 42-14 rout in a CIF Southern Section Division X quarterfinal at St. Matthias High School.

The Knights had all their points when the Phantoms scored twice against Knights reserves. The score was 28-0 at halftime.

Third-seeded St. Joseph (11-1-0) hosts second-ranked North Torrance next Friday evening at 7:30 p.m., in the semifinals. The Saxons defeated La Canada 28-23 last Friday night at La Canada.

Sixth-ranked Cathedral wound up 9-3-0.

Cathedral, which had relied heavily on its own running game up to Friday night, couldn't stop St. Joseph's when the outcome was in question.

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The Knights started their first offensive series on their 33 and scored on three plays as the middle of their offensive line opened huge holes. Brad Escobar (99 yards on 14 carries for the evening) sprinted the last 42 right up the middle.

Cathedral's Ricardo Galvez came into the game with 2,333 rushing yards. But the Knights' front seven, getting the good surge defensive tackle Jake Rooney had said the Knights would need against the Phantoms, helped St. Joseph keep Galvez to a total of 33 yards on nine carries in the first half.

St. Joseph defensive back David Wolfe had two interceptions and a 12-yard fumble return for a touchdown by halftime. Wolfe's score was St. Joseph's third.

Cathedral moved the ball well its first two offensive series, but the Knights made big defensive plays to short-circuit both drives.

On the first series of the game, Kevin Buchanan sacked Alegria for a five-yard loss after the Phantoms had a fourth-down-and-two from St. Joseph's 28.

The Phantoms drove 21 yards to their 47 after Escobar's score and then, on third-and-three, linebacker Philip Adam hit Alegria, Alegria fumbled and Knights lineman Collin Phillips recovered the ball at the Phantoms 40.

Thomas Sua scored from the 4 eight plays later. Quarterback Casey Cathcart threw for St. Joseph's last three scores, with a 3-yard pass to Buchanan in the second quarter, a 24-yarder to Dominic Catayas in the third and a 13-yarder to Ben Streeter later in the third quarter.

Cathcart was 9-for-13 for 160 yards. He threw one interception. St. Joseph's Scott Chenoweth made good on all of his six extra-point kicks.

Meanwhile, Cathedral's play distribution probably wasn't what the Phantoms coaches had game-planned beforehand. Cathedral wound up rushing 26 times and throwing 29.

Galvez, running against the Knights' reserves in the second half, did wind up with 103 yards on 13 carries for the night. Galvez scored the Phantoms' last touchdown on a 36-yard run in the fourth quarter.

In the third reserve quarterback Thomas De La Cruz, who came in for Alegria to start Cathedral's first second-half offensive series, connected with Tim Clark for a 10-yard touchdown pass.

The Knights' Brian McConkey recovered Phantom kicker Devin Kolstad's onside kick after both Phantoms touchdowns.

Knights coaches brought Sua up from the junior varsity the week of St. Joseph's next-to-last regular season game. The hard-running sophomore wound up with 59 yards on 13 carries.

The Phantoms never punted but that was because other than their two scores they lost the ball via either turnovers (four) or downs.

Clark gained a total of 40 yards on eight carries, but the Phantoms couldn't sustain their tough running game well enough for it to be a factor.

Cathedral's Glenn Carrera was listed at 807 rushing yards before the game. His name was not called Friday night.

The Knights fumbled 10 times and lost two of those last week. Friday night, St. Joseph fumbled once and kept the ball.

Lompoc 49, Torrance 0

TORRANCE - The top-ranked and two-time defending Division X champion was well on its way to consecutive victory number 23 at halftime. The Braves led 35-0 then.

The Tartars wound up 8-4-0. The shutout was the first of the year for Lompoc (12-0-0).

In the second quarter the Braves coaching staff was already beginning to substitute liberally. Joseph Scott scored four times for the victors.

Scott opened the scoring with a 3-yard run in the first quarter. He scored on runs of 13 and 1-yard in the second quarter and bolted for a 45-yard run in the third.

Tommy Hayes wrapped up the touchdown scoring with a 68-yard punt return in the third quarter. Hayes scored from the 1 in the first quarter.

Jacob Sims hauled in a 45-yard pass from Boo Jackson for Lompoc's third touchdown.

Lompoc hosts fourth-rated Encino Crespi at 7:30 p.m. next Saturday night. Individual statistics from the Lompoc-Torrance game were unavailable at press time.

Encino 15, Morro Bay 0

MORRO BAY - The Celts (9-3-0) held standout Morro Bay tailback Corey Stollmeyer to a total of 98 yards on 22 carries in another Division X quarterfinal.

Quarterback Matt Wabby and Randle Harris scored Crespi's touchdowns. Wabby scored from two-yards out on the first quarter and Harris bolted in from 52 in the second.

Daryl Fields scored on a two-point conversion run after Wabby's touchdown.

Harris racked up a total of 120 yards on 27 carries. The Celts held the Pirates to 148 yards of total offense.

Morro Bay, which finished fourth in the Los Padres League and earned the division's lone wild card berth, wound up 7-5-0.

SLO 45, Royal 21

SIMI VALLEY - Area rushing leader Phil Garza racked up a total of 199 yards on 35 carries and scored three times as the Tigers rolled into the Division IV semifinals.

The Tigers (11-1-0) take on top-ranked Ventura St. Bonaventure at 7:30 p.m. next Friday night. San Luis Obispo was ranked No. 1 in the division most of the season.

Garza scored on runs of 1 yard in the first quarter and 2 and 21 yards in the fourth. Royal never came closer than 14-6.

The Tigers easily withstood 199 yards on 18 carries by Royal's Danny Mosier. Mosier scored Royal's first touchdown on a 77-yard run.

Nov. 27, 2004