Coast Christian Passes Major Test, 34-18

As far as Coach Dan Pride is concerned, Coast Christian passed the biggest, most challenging test of the football season Saturday afternoon when the Saints downed visiting Camp Kilpatrick, 34-18.

“Beyond a shadow of a doubt, this was the biggest win of the season for us,” he said. “We’ve been preparing for this for the last three or four weeks, and when we came out, we seemed to be a little bit in awe of them. But we settled down and hopefully this game got us over the hump.”

The Saints finished their regular season with an 8-0 record and kept their 21-game winning streak intact as they look toward the start of the CIF Eight-man playoffs which start next weekend. Coast Christian will learn on Monday who its first-round opponent will be. Camp Kilpatrick, a large-school entry in the eight-man league from Malibu, ended its season at 7-1-1.

Coast Christian running back Earl Rhodes carried the ball 21 times for 202 yards, Robert Haskins rushed for three touchdowns and linebacker John Anderson had two interceptions and a fumble recovery. Rhodes, in preparation for Saturday’s meeting, had carried the ball just 11 times in the Saints’ previous three meetings.

“I’ll be honest with you: He seemed a little tired to me,” Pride admitted. “But he’s a great player and came through for us.”

The Saints led, 18-0, at halftime but had to stave off a late Camp Kilpatrick rally and hold on for the victory.

Coast Christian was turned away from the 1-yard line early in the game when Renal Wise intercepted Steve Luce’s pass attempt, but the Saints did get on the board minutes later when Haskins rambled in from 9 yards out. With 6:46 remaining in the half, Luce found a wide-open Jerry Stephens alone for a 29-yard touchdown, and Haskins scored again from 9 yards out with time running out in the first half. All three point-after attempts failed.

Glen Towley put Camp Kilpatrick on the board early in the third quarter by picking up a Luce fumble and running it in from 25 yards out.

Following Anderson’s second interception, which gave the Saints good field position at the seven, Rhodes scored, but the Mustangs used a trick play to cut back into Coast Christian’s lead. Quarterback Michael Boyd bounced a lateral to Renal Wise, who acted as though it were an incomplete pass. Wise then picked up the ball and threw to a wide-open Towley for the score.

Haskins scored his third touchdown of the game with 3:41 remaining from 19 yards out.