Eagles lose to powerful St. Bonaventure

Eagles lose to powerful St. Bonaventure

GENE DOWD/The AcornRUNNING FOR DAYLIGHT--Oak Park's Brendan Anderson looks for a hole against St. Bonaventure. Yardage was hard to come by, as the Eagles were humbled, 50-0, and Eric Testan was injured.

By Thomas Wayne Pichotta

Acorn Sports Writer

The faces change but the result is the same, over and over. St. Bonaventure running back Lorenzo Booker blows past the host Eagles; the Seraph’s defense mauls the Oak Park offense.

The result?

A 50-0 shellacking last week at the hands of a Seraph football team with dreams of another Division XI vhampionship.

For the sixth consecutive season the Eagles offense was shredded by a larger, faster more talented Seraph defense that swarmed over the best that Oak Park had to offer. For the sixth consecutive year the Eagles were prevented from putting the ball in the end zone.

Three points in six seasons is all Oak Park has to show in this lopsided rivalry.

For the fifth consecutive year the Seraph offense has run wild, posting at least 49 points on the scoreboard with most of those points scored by halftime.

One thing has changed from previous years. The Seraphs have never had a player like Lorenzo Booker. The shifty junior is miles ahead of last season. Faster, bigger, stronger and smarter; last week he ran as if there was no defense on the field with 12 carries for 276 yards and five touchdowns plus a 47-yard screen pass for a touchdown.

On one play, Booker performed a 360-degree spin at full speed to elude pursuing tacklers before sprinting to the end zone.

Oak Park entered the game with a defense that had dominated their first six opponents. The Eagles had allowed just 10 points per game until this contest.

Still, the Eagles were no match for Booker.

It all started so poorly. On St. Bonaventure’s first play from scrimmage, the Seraphs executed a "fumblerooski" play for a 35-yard gain. On the third play, Whitney Lewis got behind the Eagle secondary for the Seraph’s first touchdown.

The next time the St. Bonaventure offense appeared on the field, it took Booker just one play to give Bonnie a 16-0 lead as he exploded for an 80-yard touchdown run. The Seraphs never looked back and took a huge, 44-0 lead into halftime.

Between these two possessions the Eagle offense had success moving the ball down the field as Eric Testan ran and Josh Walker passed the Eagles to the Seraph 17-yard line, but Monte McNair’s field goal attempt was partially blocked and the threat ended

The bad news for Oak Park was a knee injury to Eric Testan near the end of that drive. Testan finished the night with 50 yards on six carries.

With Testan on the sidelines, the Seraphs intensified the pressure on quarterback Josh Walker. For the rest of the evening, Walker rolled out threw pass after pass into the turf to prevent from being sacked.

Without a significant running attack, the Eagle offense died in the process.

Last season Oak Park was able to overcome the negatives of their loss to St. Bonaventure and complete a very successful season. With Santa Clara on the horizon, Oak Park can turn the page again.