DIVISION VII : Gardena Serra Beats Lompoc, 34-31

In a battle of undefeated Southern Section powers, Gardena Serra defeated Lompoc, 34-31, Saturday night to win the Division VII championship before 6,000 at El Camino College.

Behind fullback Dennis Gerard, who rushed for 220 yards and two touchdowns, the Cavaliers (14-0) were able to outlast Lompoc and standout running back Napoleon Kaufman, who rushed for 128 yards and scored four times.

“This was a game that could have gone either way,” said first-year Serra Coach Leo Hand. “I feel real good for the kids because they have worked so hard for it. I know everyone liked this game because it had a lot of scoring.”

Lompoc (13-1) scored first on a 46-yard field goal by Tommy Thompson, that was set up by an 18-yard interception return by Jason Berthal.

Serra was able to untrack its ground game in the second quarter after bringing in backup junior quarterback Alex Marcelin, who effectively worked the Cavaliers’ short passing game with receivers Donald Godden and Tim Trahan.

With Lompoc leery of Marcelin’s passing, Gerard rushed for 22 and 25 yards to set up a 13-yard touchdown run by Fred Safford, giving Serra a 6-3 lead.

The Cavaliers added to their lead when Gerard ran untouched for a 27-yard score and Marcelin connected with Safford on a 40-yard touchdown pass to give Serra a 22-3 lead late in the second quarter.

It did not take Lompoc long to answer when Kaufman returned the ensuing kickoff 95 yards to make the score 22-9 at halftime.

Gerard finished the first half with 125 yards rushing in only nine carries.

The Braves scored on their first possession of the second half when Kaufman ran two yards after setting up the play by catching a 28-yard catch from quarterback Jason Garife.

After an exchange of punts, Gerard took over once again with a 35-yard run, and followed that with a 37-yard touchdown gain.

Kaufman answered Gerard’s score with a 58-yard touchdown to trim Serra’s lead to 28-23.

Serra opened its lead to 11 points with a five-play 42-yard drive that featured the running of Jerald Henry, who had two carries for 26 yards, including a 12-yard score.

But Kaufman and Lompoc came right back, with a 12-play, 76-yard touchdown drive. Kaufman rushed for 24 yards in the drive and caught a key 19-yard pass. He finished the drive with a seven-yard score and after a two-point conversion pass from Girafe to Moose Mau, the Braves trailed by only three points.

Serra was able to run off nearly three minutes of the clock before running out of downs on Lompoc’s 31 with 40 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter.

Lompoc’s last-ditch drive was ended when Henry intercepted a Girafe pass to seal the victory.