One week removed from shutting out first league opponent Patrick Henry, the Dons scored yet another shutout victory over newly formed rival Scripps Ranch with a final score of 53-0. Although the real story of this game could be the appearance of former Don Derek Thomas, who also attended the homecoming rally earlier in the day.

One of the major storylines coming into this game was the injury to starting running back Tony Johnson. Senior running back JJ Stavola, who also did not finish last week’s game, did get the start in against the Eagles and ended the game with 105 yards and two touchdowns on 17 carries.

Halfway through the first quarter, after a fumble was recovered and returned to the seven yard line by senior defensive lineman Casey Palid, Stavola found the endzone first for the Dons by pounding it in for the touchdown to make it 7-0 Dons.

Later in the first quarter, following a blocked punt, junior quarterback Garrett Bogart dropped back to pass but could not find an open receiver, so he decided to run it in himself from five yards out for the touchdown. The point-after attempt by senior kicker Dylan Peterson, who took the place of the injured Christian Fanning, was no good to make it 13-0 Dons.

Soon after the Bogart score, Derek Thomas was driven onto the sideline and was given a standing ovation from the crowd along with a special cheer from the CCHS cheer team. He spent the rest of the game on the sideline talking to players, coaches, and others also on the sideline.

After a long incomplete pass to senior wide receiver Trevor Deddeh drew a holding call, the Dons had the ball on the two-yard line. JJ Stavola got the handoff and pounded the ball in for the score to make it 20-0.

The Dons’ found the endzone one last time in the first half with less than a minute left off of a 14-yard touchdown throw to Senior wide receiver Brian Heinz who ran a great fade route and made a great catch.

The Dons’ second half was just an extension of the first. Offensive scores from Bogart to Moliga and a huge 90-yard throw to senior Andrew Pascale along with a run from senior Riley Sanchez would have certainly been enough to win the game. The Dons’ defense wanted to get into the action, however. Late in the third quarter junior Connor Larkin returned an interception 55 yards for the score.

At the end of the game the Dons had scored a season high 53 points and recorded their third shutout of the year and their second in two weeks.

Scripps Ranch falls to 1-1 in league play and 2-5 overall with the loss and will have another tough match up next week against the Saints.
The Dons remain undefeated in league play with this win over Scripps and improve to an overall record of 6-1. The Dons will hit the road again next week to play the winless Lincoln Hornets who the Dons faced last year in the CIF title game at Qualcomm.