WESTLAKE VILLAGE — The crisp November air means one thing – playoff football is here.
Games are being played with higher stakes and effort. Making the big plays at the end of games even more meaningful and even magical to a degree. But sometimes games truly end on a magical note.
The Oak Christian Lions faced a third-and-10 on their own 18-yard line. Before the play, freshman quarterback Niko Bladow only had 68 passing yards with eight completions.
The ball was snapped, and Bladow looked to his left and threw a strike to wide receiver Davon Benjamin, but the ball was overthrown and tipped. The ball could’ve landed anywhere. The ground. A defender’s hands. It opted to land right in the hands of Lions wide receiver Christian Butler, who took off running 82 yards to the end zone, giving the Lions a late lead.
Oaks Christian (5-6) outlasted the St. Bonaventure Seraphs (5-6) 16-13 in the first round of the CIF Southern Section Division 4 bracket.
“But I think over the last month, we have hit stride in terms of confidence, and at this stage of the game, we’re there,” Oaks Christian head coach Charles Collins said. “You know, we kind of peaking late, which is probably good that we are peaking late, but super proud of them. They never quit.”
Oaks Christian started off the season 1-5 and lost its starting quarterback due to a transfer forcing them to start a freshman in Bladow.
This game took everything from the Lions to come out with a victory. Oaks Christian’s Deshonne Redeaux, who plays running back and comes in on defense from time to time, totaled over 170 rushing yards last week.
Against St. Bonaventure, he only had 76 yards on the night.
On a third-and-1 for St. Bonaventure on the ensuing drive after the Butler touchdown, quarterback Jaxson Carper took the snap and rolled out to his left. Just moments later, Redeaux was in his face, taking him down for a sack, forcing the Seraphs into a fourth and long. The Seraphs wouldn’t convert, sealing the game for the Lions.
“We’re passionate,” Collins said. “We want to win the whole thing. We were Division 2 semifinalists. We thought we should have won it last year, and we said, ‘If we get into Division 4, we are not going to go off the stand without fighting.’ So we’re going to try to win this whole thing.”
In the second half, the Serpahs found success within their running game.
St. Bonaventure used the wildcat formation during its 11-play drive in the middle of the fourth quarter to help take a late 13-9 lead. During the drive, they converted two fourth-down attempts with Carper throwing a 10-yard touchdown pass to cap it off.
“It just boils down to executing,” Collins said. “And we know, just getting some stops when we need it, making some plays when we needed it, but at the end of the day, we made enough plays.”
The Lions move on in the Division 4 bracket and will play the winner of Woodrow Wilson and Paraclete. Collins gave his thoughts on the rest of the competition.
“I think it’s got some good teams,” Collins said. “I think we’re only gonna play better … I think the other teams will be overwhelmed with us in terms of what we can do against them versus what they haven’t seen. So I’m just looking forward to the rest.”