Bishop Amat Plays Like it's 1995
/On a night when Bishop Amat honored their 1995 CIF Football Championship team, the 2015 Lancers rolled to an easy 49-7 victory over Crespi High School for their second Mission League victory.
The Lancers' first play from scrimmage was a portent of things to come. Quarterback Damien Garcia hit Tyler Vaughns on a quick slant and the standout receiver turned it into a 65 yard gain, only being stopped from scoring by bumping into his own blocker. Garcia later found TE Xavier Chavez in the end zone for a 13 yard touchdown. It only took a minute and a half off the clock to draw first blood.
After that, it was time to unleash the Torreanho Sweet Express. Sweet finished his evening's work by the third quarter with 182 yards rushing and five touchdowns, including scores of 35, 31 and 42 yards. Even the venerable "Beef" formation made an appearance to open up a hole for Sweet to score from the five yard line, to take a 35-0 lead at the end of the first half.
Are the Lancers Going to Party Like it's 1995?
It says a lot about the tradition of Amat football that so many members of the 1995 CIF Football Championship team showed up at Kiefer Stadium for the 20th anniversary of Amat's last CIF title, including former NFL players Ralph Brown and Brian Russell. And there's a history lesson this year's team might take to heart.
The Bishop Amat 1995 CIF Football Championship team.
The 1994 team was loaded with talent but still lost to Mater Dei in the CIF final. With seven senior stars of that team lost to graduation, there were only modest expectations for the 1995 squad. But "The Little Team That Could" found a way to defy the odds and defeated Loyola 14-10 in the 1995 CIF Championship game at the Los Angeles Coliseum.
Twenty years have passed. Is this the Lancers' year to make it to the top again? Four years ago, it was mentioned that the freshman team was going to be a force to be reckoned with when they hit the varsity level. The way the Lancers are playing at the moment seems to be meeting those expectations. The offense is playing at an unstoppable level while the defense is being extremely stingy at giving up the points.
It's still a long road as the Lancers travel to face the formidable Serra next week. The Cavaliers are also undefeated in league play and boast a similar 5-1 record this year.
It should be a great contest filled with Lancer pride and spirit. No question, the Amat faithful will travel in large numbers to take in "The Best Ticket in Town."
HUGO RICARDO
Hugo is a contributing writer to the ConceptuaLine blog and an accomplished copywriter in both English and Spanish. Catch him on Friday nights supporting Lancer football.
