Frost Does It All for Loyola

On a night Los Angeles Loyola’s football team and its coach, Steve Grady, were penalized three times for sideline interference for failing to get out of the way of an official, it was up to senior quarterback Casey Frost to deliver a soothing Southern Section Division I playoff victory.

Frost completed all nine of his passes for 163 yards and one touchdown and rushed for 117 yards and a touchdown in Loyola’s 28-14 victory over Huntington Beach Edison on Friday at Glendale High. Frost had gains of 59 and 29 yards on two of his runs.

“Given the circumstances, I had a pretty good game, but each week the teams get tougher,” said Frost, also the school’s student body president.

Loyola (9-2), the defending Division I champion, expanded a 14-7 halftime lead when Frost connected with Marcus Lawrence on a 60-yard touchdown pass play with 4:11 left in the third quarter. George Hypolite ran 74 yards for a touchdown early in the fourth quarter to make it 28-7.

Edison (6-5) missed chances in the third quarter when two drives ended at the Loyola two-yard line, one on an interception by Reynolds Holmes and the other on an incomplete pass on fourth down. Charger quarterback Brian Shrock passed for 257 yards and ran for 98 yards.

Forty-two years ago, Grady was a single-wing tailback for the Cubs and could move a little faster. He was grateful for Frost’s performance.

“He hadn’t taken a snap last year,” Grady said, “and he has been outstanding.”

Eric Sondheimer

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Colton 29, Santa Margarita 24 -- The Division I playoffs have not been kind to Santa Margarita or Citrus Belt League members in recent years, but somebody had to go home happy.

Turned out it was fourth-seeded Colton (10-1). The host Jackrabbits, who went undefeated in league play, showed their mettle as three players rushed for more than 100 yards out of their wing-T offense.

Shareece Wright carried 13 times for 174 yards, including touchdown runs of 78 and 42 yards; Allen Bradford rushed 14 times for 135 yards, and fullback Michael Land had eight carries for 113 yards.

Citrus Belt teams had gone 1-6 in the last two years in the postseason and 8-17 over the previous five years.

“We feel like we have a real competitive team this year,” Colton Coach Harold Strauss said. “The kids are kind of taking it to heart, saying, ‘Hey, we can play with you guys.’ ”

Santa Margarita (5-6), which finished tied for fourth in the Serra League, hasn’t fared much better, having posted a 1-6 record in the playoffs since making the move to Division I from Division VI in 1998.

The Eagles scored 17 points in the fourth quarter to cut the deficit to 26-24 with 5:17 left. Travis Boyd’s 30-yard field goal made it 29-24 with 2:35 left and one minute later, Bradford intercepted a pass at the Colton 25.

Dan Arritt

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Pomona Diamond Ranch 30, Riverside Norte Vista 7 -- Brandon Edwards rushed for 276 yards and three touchdowns as a determined Diamond Ranch team dominated the second half to win its Division VIII game at Riverside Ramona.

Diamond Ranch (8-2-1) missed an opportunity to win the Mt. Baldy League title outright last week after its loss to Chino Don Lugo, and the Panthers were forced to go on the road after losing a coin toss.

“It was kind of good that we lost last week,” Edwards said. “We were too hyped up and we were overrunning plays.”

Diamond Ranch opened the second half with an 11-play, 80-yard drive capped by fullback Brian Holley’s one-yard plunge on fourth down to take an 18-7 lead.

Edwards, who carried 27 times, broke the game open with a 61-yard run after scoring on runs of one and 41 yards in the first half. Phillip Winn capped the scoring with a 47-yard interception return.

Thomas Ruiz led Norte Vista (8-3) with 125 yards rushing and scored on a four-yard run that gave the Braves a brief 7-6 lead in the second quarter.

-- Eric Stephens

Record-setters -- Dwight Tardy of Santa Fe Springs St. Paul rushed for a school-record nine touchdowns, which is tied for second-most in section history, in a 77-35 Division III victory over Crescenta Valley.

Thousand Oaks had a record-setting performance by Matt Luft, who had 17 receptions for 268 yards, both school records, in a 38-31 Division IV victory over Arroyo Grande. Ryan Cloney threw for 509 yards.