Damien Not Ready for the Big Stage in 42-6 Loss to Servite

LA VERNE- Damien head coach Matt Bechtel wanted to make Damien a top-tier quality team, and promptly scheduled St. John Bosco and Servite to see where they stand against the “big boys”.

Servite (1-0) had different ideas, handing the Spartans a 42-6 defeat, showing why Servite is ranked in the top 10 in the state.

“That’s a good football team over there and their players and coaches came ready to play,” Bechtel said. “I’m disappointed in our lack of physical play. I thought our kids were ready, I thought we were prepared. But probably the biggest disappointment is we got punched in the mouth and didn’t respond. As a coaching staff, that’s our problem and it’s something we have to address and fix.”

Damien had the first shot at offense but couldn’t convert. Servite promptly marched down the field on its initial drive, culminating in a 22-yard scoring pass from Noah Fifita to Wes Taylor.

After another three-and-out, the Friars once again found the endzone, this time with Fifita taking it in himself for 22 yards to take a quick 13-0 lead.

Damien (0-1) had a couple of opportunities to make the game more respectable, the first which was a Gio Russo recovery of a Fifita fumble on the Damien 3 which he returned to the Servite 3.

After three Dylan Gutierrez incomplete passes, Drake Gonzales couldn’t hit the 24-yard field goal attempt.

“We had a scoop and almost scored,” Bechtel said. “We get the ball down to the three, and the first play we run an off-tackle play and get stuffed for a three-yard loss, and so that goes back to my point about not being physical enough.

“And we come back on second and third down and have guys open in the end zone and we overshoot them. So, now we got lack of physical play and some execution things, so at the end of the day that’s on us as a coaching staff to fix.”

Then they once again were gifted good field position thanks in part by various Servite penalties which brought the Spartans to the 35. However, the threat was ended when the Friars’ Jack Kane intercepted the fourth down pass attempt.

The Spartans avoided the shutout when Gutierrez found Nick Pendleton on a 26-yard scoring pass with 34 seconds to go in the game.

Damien visits St. Francis next week. Kickoff is at 7pm.