By Ryan Menzie
Signal Sports Writer
The St. Bonaventure Seraphs have not lost a game this season, and their defense showed why they are ranked No. 33 in the state Thursday night. With the Hart Indians still struggling with a depleted roster, the Seraphs took advantage throughout the course of the game.
Hart (1-3) lost to the Seraphs (4-0) on Thursday night, 41-3, with their offense accumulating less than zero yards in the first half. The Indians struggled immensely to give their quarterback Tim Larkins time, giving up five sacks in the first half alone.
Despite the struggles in the first half, Indians head coach Rick Herrington felt the first half was decent defensively.
“They were sending people against us and we weren’t picking them up,” said Herrington. “It’s frustrating because we thought we were going to do a lot better. First half was pretty good but we weren’t moving the ball on offense. Hopefully we get those things figured out before we get into league.”
The already depleted Indians also dealt with injuries, including their starting running back Donovan Dunn not playing in the game, and with wide receiver Chase Depaco being taken out of the game with a shoulder injury. Depaco was seen on the sideline without pads.
The lone score of the half for the Indians came from a 26-yard field goal off a muffed punt snap by the Seraphs. Despite a roughing-the-passer penalty, the Indians were not able to put seven on the board. Defensive end Cole Spivey came up with the only sack for the Indians.
“Hopefully we get our running back (Donovan Dunn) healthy again for next game,” said Herrington. “We had new guys in there making mistakes. Some miscommunications, but I thought we played halfway decent. Other than that we got to keep practicing and working, that’s really all we can do.”
The Seraphs’ ground attack inflicted damaged as well, with running back Delon Thompson accumulating three touchdowns along with his 60 yards with two more quarters left to play. The Seraphs’ offense was clicking all game long.
Unfortunately for the Indians, the struggles continued into the second half.
Larkins started moving the ball, accumulating 50 yards entering the fourth quarter, but the Seraphs’ defensive line continued to dominate, accumulating three more sacks, while the offense continued to click. This time the damage was being done by Seraphs quarterback Manny Rosales.
Rosales threw both his touchdowns in the second half while accumulating 223 yards of total offense throughout the course of the game. Rosales was taken out during the second drive of the fourth quarter as the Indians continued to have no answers on offense.
To cap off the Seraphs’ night, backup quarterback Darious Shirley threw a 42-yard touchdown to wide receiver Joaquin Johnson, his second touchdown catch of the night. Johnson finished the game with 67 yards on three catches.
The Indians’ next chance to bounce back will be against Downey on Friday at 7 p.m. at Downey, Hart’s final game before heading into the Foothill League games.
