This St. Anthony football season has been defined by the nearly unstoppable rushing attack led by Sone Aupiu, but that wasn’t the case on Friday night in the first round of the CIF Southern Section Division 10 playoffs.
Saints quarterback Conor Hochberg completed 19 of his 24 attempts and threw for 348 yards and two touchdowns in the 41-7 win over Schurr at St. Paul.
“We saw some things on film that we thought we could attack and it really worked in the first half,” St. Anthony coach Raul Lara said. “We’ve been heavy on the run, so everyone sees us and tries to stop the run so we thought the passing game was going to be open for us.”
Senior Tyler Henry led the receiving corps with four catches for 101 yards and a touchdown, but Hochberg did a great job of spreading the ball around as five players had over 30 yards receiving.
“He’s starting to learn the system and he’s getting better every week,” Lara said of Hochberg.
Junior Darius Davis had five catches for 45 yards, senior Ryan Norried had four catches for 64 yards and senior Kweku Claybrook finished with 33 yards and a touchdown on just two catches.
Meanwhile, St. Anthony running back Sone Aupiu gained 82 yards on 17 carries, and also had 63 yards on four receptions. He had two rushing touchdowns and a receiving touchdown.
St. Anthony (7-4) will play the winner of Cathedral City and Katella in the quarterfinals.
