With USC next, Hall leaves on top

Walking off the field after his final high school game, St. Bonaventure defensive back Patrick Hall couldn’t help but smile as he gazed at the sea of supporters cheering in the stands. After all, how many football players get to be a part of two state championship teams knowing that they’ll be heading to USC the next year?

“It feels great to go out like this,” said Hall, his taped-on USC grease marks under his eyes. “To get to this point is unbelievable.”

Thanks to Hall and his teammates, Ventura St. Bonaventure won its second consecutive CIF Division III state bowl championship Saturday, defeating Santa Rosa Cardinal Newman, 28-6, at the Home Depot Center.

The Seraphs (14-1) capitalized on another trademark defensive effort to keep Cardinal Newman (13-1) out of the end zone, stonewalling three Cardinals drives inside the St. Bonaventure 20. The Seraphs also limited the Cardinals to only one fourth-down conversion in four tries.

St. Bonaventure’s stingy defense allowed its offense to build on Hall’s 53-yard touchdown run in the first quarter. Junior quarterback Logan Meyer completed 10 of 15 passes for 140 yards and junior running back Devon Blackledge finished with a game-high 89 yards and a touchdown.

“It’s been a lot of fun coaching a team this good,” said St. Bonaventure Coach Todd Therrien, who at 29 has won two Division III state bowl championships in his first two years as a prep football coach. “The linebacking corps has been outstanding and the secondary was phenomenal.”

Cardinal Newman Coach Paul Cronin was also impressed by the Seraphs’ defense, even though it meant his team would leave a bowl game empty-handed for the second time in three years.

“Any time we got into a third-and-nine or fourth-and-long, we knew it would be tough because of their athleticism,” Cronin said. “They’re a great team and they showed it.”

Cardinal Newman quarterback Randy Wright kicked field goals of 22 and 36 yards in the first half to salvage something from drives that sputtered out in St. Bonaventure territory. Wright also completed 19 of 31 passes for 127 yards, but it wasn’t enough.

In becoming the first team to win two CIF division bowl titles, the Seraphs gave up an average of just over eight points a game in the postseason and outscored opponents 165-42. And the one Seraph who played a significant role in both of those statistics was Hall.

Last year, Hall lived in the shadow of Darrell Scott, who took over the starting running back job that appeared to be Hall’s before Scott’s transfer from Moorpark in the winter of 2007. But everybody knew Hall was a top-level talent, and those suspicions were confirmed when he committed to USC this year.

In the Division II championship game, Tyler Gaffney rushed for 329 yards and five touchdowns -- both state bowl records -- to lead San Diego Cathedral Catholic (14-0) to a 37-34 victory over Stockton St. Mary’s. Gaffney had 56 touchdowns (48 of them rushing), tied for fourth all-time on the state single-season list.

Cody Vaz passed for 336 yards and four touchdowns for St. Mary’s (12-3).

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Correspondent Steve Galluzzo contributed to this report.

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