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There’s little room for error in dealing with the arm and legs of Sherman Oaks Notre Dame’s Steele Pizzella, the fastest quarterback in California.
There was an 80-yard touchdown run Friday night in which his 10.64-second 100-meter speed was electrifying. There were four touchdown passes, three to Luc Weaver.
And yet, top-seeded Simi Valley was able to pull out a 49-47 victory over the Knights in a first-round Southern Section Division 3 playoff opener because it had its own dominating offensive weapon in running back Brice Hawkins, who rushed for 202 yards and scored four touchdowns.
“It was a shootout, and they had the ball last,” Notre Dame coach Evan Yarbu said.
Hawkins’ seven-yard run in the final minute earned Simi Valley (10-1) a first down to run out the clock and allowed the Pioneers to have another home game next week against La Habra.
Pizzella passed for 362 yards with two interceptions and ran for 173 yards in his final high school game before heading to Washington State. Simi Valley coach Jim Benkert knew all about Pizzella’s talents, because he was his coach for his first two years of high school.
“Oh my gosh,” Benkert said. “He’s special. He was making great plays with his feet, he was making great plays with his arm.”
Freshman cornerback Micah Hannah, who made an interception for Simi Valley on the Knights’ opening possession, was familiar with Pizzella because his older brother, Malachi, played with Pizzella at Simi Valley.
“He’s a great player,” Hannah said. “He’s real fast.”
Two lost fumbles and an interception in the first half by Simi Valley helped Notre Dame reach halftime trailing only 28-26. There were big plays by the Knights. Weaver had a 66-yard touchdown catch on broken coverage and a 25-yard touchdown. Caden Sliowski returned a fumble 65 yards for a touchdown. Pizzella ran 80 yards up the middle…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/top-seeded-simi-valley-holds-065051718.html
Author : LA Times
Publish date : 2024-11-09 06:50:51
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