Horizon Panthers 12, Bishop’s Knights 54

Bishop’s and Horizon opened Coastal League play at Serra High School Friday night, as the Knights coasted past the Panthers in a 54-12 win.

The Bishop’s offense was humming from their first possession of the game. After a methodical drive down the field, senior running back AJ Britanico finished it off with a ten-yard score.

The next two trips to the endzone came from sophomore Mozes Mooney. The two-way player caught a 24-yard touchdown pass from Jeffrey Jackson. And then he caught one from Panthers’ quarterback Thomas Marcus, and returned it 34 yards to put Bishop’s up 21-0.

Marcus would redeem himself on the next drive, finding Oscar Cordova just behind the defense for a 32-yard strike.

But the Knights’ offense just kept rolling. Jackson and Mooney hooked up for a nine-yard sophomore-to-sophomore score, and then Jackson went long to Justin Woodley for a 52-yard touchdown.

Marcus and Cordova connected on another deep ball for the Panthers, this one for 76 yards, but Wyatt Charette closed out the half with a two-yard plunge over the goal line to give the Knights a 41-12 lead at the break. They would tack on two more scores — a 3-yard pass from Jackson to Jacob Jackson and another run from Charette — for a final score of 54-12.

Next week, Bishop’s travels to University City while Horizon hosts Sante Fe Christian.

PREVIEW: Two young squads get their first taste of league play this Friday at 7 p.m., as the Horizon Panthers and Bishop’s Knights face off at Serra High School.

Horizon quarterback Oscar Cordova is one of only five seniors on the roster. He threw just a single pass in 2014, but caught 46 from Josh Gaudet as part of a prolific passing attack. This year, he’s the one lining up under center — and if the Panthers are to make a Coastal League charge after a 1-5 start, he’ll likely have to be in the center of that as well.

After an undefeated 2014 complete with Coastal League and Division IV titles, Bishop’s head coach Joel Allen has had to replace the dynamic backfield duo of quarterback Griffin Seaman and Silver Pigskin Finalist Bulla Graft.

Senior AJ Britanico has stepped seamlessly into the lead-back role, carrying 72 times for 590 yards and 7 scores. The other headline-grabbers on the Knights’ offense have been a pair of sophomores. Jeffery Jackson has completed 92 passes for 1191 yards and 16 scores — and exactly half of those completions have gone to fellow class-of-2018 member Mozes Mooney. The 46 connections between the two super-sophs have resulted in 663 yards and 10 trips to the endzone.

The Knights’ defense has terrorized opposing quarterbacks, led by senior linebacker Richard Hagestad’s 7.5 sacks. Other key cogs include junior tackle Daniel Anderson and leading tackler Justin Woodley (45 take-downs).