DUARTE - Thomas Sua tied a St. Joseph single game touchdown record with five rushing scores, and the Knights sent the second seed packing.

Sua ran for 167 yards on 25 carries. He scored all five St. Joseph touchdowns. The Knights defeated second-ranked Gladstone of Covina 35-20 in a first-round CIF Southern Section Division X playoff game at Duarte High School Friday night.

St. Joseph (6-5) takes on Serra of Gardena at 7:30 p.m. next Friday night at Al Maguire Field in the quarterfinals. Serra routed Palos Verdes 49-14 Friday night.

Gladstone, which roared through the Montview League unbeaten at 6-0, winds up 9-2. The Knights have lost in the semifinals the past two seasons.

The Knights ran through the Gladiators for 345 yards in the first round. “The offensive line deserves a lot of credit for that,” said St. Joseph coach Mike Hartman. “They blocked very well.”

The Knights covered 65 yards on nine plays for their last score. Sua carried the ball every play. He ran in from 33 yards out for his last touchdown.

T.J. Puerling ran for 82 yards on six carries. Quarterback Brian McConkey had 74 yards on just four rushes.

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St. Joseph ran behind right guard Drew Salazar for a lot of its yardage. The rest of the Knights' starting offensive line consisted of right tackle Josh Bingham, center Zach Clayton, left guard Colin Phillips and left tackle Sheldon Lechuga.

Lechuga and Phillips both had a big night on defense.

The Knights began by driving 79 yards on 10 plays for a score on the first possession of the game. Sua took care of the last three yards himself. Sam Hawkes was true on all five of his conversion kicks, and he kicked the extra point this time.

St. Joseph roared to a 21-0 halftime lead by scoring on its first three possessions. Puerling set up Sua's second touchdown, a 5-yarder, with a 69-yard run. The Knights then went 89 yards on just four plays.

McConkey racked up 48 yards on first down, then Sua ran 37 yards to the Gladstone 7. Sua scored from the 2 two plays later.

The Gladiators got their running game in gear after that, but by then it was already too late for them.

“Give them credit - they played hard,” Hartman said. “Phillip Nemchek's their stud, and he ran like it.”

After getting almost nothing early, the Gladiators' season leading rusher wound up with 178 yards on 23 carries.

Quarterback Omar Lopez was the Gladiators' only other ballcarrier. He gained 32 yards on 10 carries. Nemchek scored from 12 and 11 yards out. Lopez scored Gladstone's last touchdown on a 12-yard run.

The Knights have won every time they've stayed out of their own way, and they had just one turnover Friday night. That came on an interception. Patrick Cusack intercepted a pass for St. Joseph.

Gladstone kept the ball for 5:58 after the second half kickoff. Nemchek finished a 79-yard drive with a 12-yard run. St. Joseph answered with a 79-yard scoring drive of its own.

The march featured a 38-yard pass from McConkey to Scott Cathcart. Sua scored on a 9-yard run. Hawkes' extra point kick made it 28-6. That was the score as the fourth quarter began.

Gladstone tried to crank up its passing game late. But passing is not what the Gladiators typically do, and Lopez was just 6-for-20 for 77 yards Friday night.

Beverly Hills 35, Atascadero 33

BEVERLY HILLS - Meyer Linter threw for 270 yards and two scores to lead the Normans to a Division IV victory over the Greyhounds.

Spencer Paysinger caught six passes for 120 yards and one of the touchdowns in the victory for Beverly Hills (9-0-2), which travels to Rio Mesa for second-round action next week.

Volleyball

Lighthouse Christian 3, VCA 1

CYPRESS - For the second straight time, Valley Christian Academy got off to a slow start in the Division V-A title match against Lighthouse Christian and could not recover.

The top-ranked Saints of Santa Monica successfully defended their 2004 CIF Southern Section divisional championship. The Saints defeated the third-ranked Lions 25-13, 25-17, 23-25, 25-11 at Cypress College Friday night.

As the No. 1 seed, Lighthouse Christian swept the Lions in the championship match last year. VCA (12-5) will likely play the top seed in the Southern California Region of the Division V State Playoffs next week.

The Lions will likely find out their first-round state playoff assignment today or Sunday.

“Like last time, we just got off to a slow start,” VCA coach Stan Bickley said of the Southern Section final. “We played well in the third game, but we got off to a bad start in the fourth game.”

VCA season kill leader Lara Hertzog led the Lions again. This time she racked up 21.

Bickley said his squad couldn't duplicate the energy it played with in the semifinal.

“(Lighthouse Christian is) a very good team, but we didn't play with the determination we did against Baptist Christian (of Hemet),” said Bickley. The Lions swept their semifinal match in three games at Baptist Christian Tuesday night.

“Of course we're disappointed,” Bickley said. “But it's been a great year.”

Water polo

Santa Barbara 10, Righetti 9

OXNARD - A good season came to a hard end for the Warriors (24-5) in the Division IV semifinals at Rio Mesa High School.

Third-ranked Righetti was leading the second-ranked Dons 9-6 going into the fourth quarter. Then, “They started playing more physical on us, and then they were able to jam in some goals,” said Righetti coach Kyle Shaffer.

“We lost in the last few seconds on a very controversial play. They scored on a direct seven meter shot after a foul. You're allowed to take a direct shot if you can get it off right away.”

Righetti led 7-4 at halftime. Noah Smith and Brandon Holladay led the Warriors' scoring for the day with three goals each. Righetti goal keeper Cory Yamashiro made seven saves.

The Warriors won their 11th consecutive league championship earlier this season. They lose eight seniors.

“It was a good season. It's just tough to lose a close game like that, especially when you were in control of the game,” said Shaffer. “It happens.”

Nov. 19, 2005