The562’s coverage of football in 2024-25 is sponsored by The Terry Donahue Memorial California Showcase.
The562’s coverage of St. Anthony athletics is sponsored by Jane & B.I. Mais, Class of 1949.
It’s not about how long you have the ball—it’s what you do with it that matters. St. Anthony opened the first round of the CIF-SS Division 10 playoffs on Friday and only held the ball for 20 minutes against visiting South Hills but relied on a balanced attack en route to a 31-14 win.
“Our team is so gosh darn gritty,” said head coach Jeff Magdaleno. “Everyone has been toughing it out and they keep wanting to go out there. Their preparation is so good and it’s a full team effort from coaches to players. Like we say we wanna go 1-0 ever week and this was our only focus this week.”
South Hills received the opening kickoff and marched down the field in an eight minute and 42 second drive that came up empty handed after an Evan Anglin blocked field goal. The Saints replied with a three-play drive that ended on a 89-yard touchdown on a third and long connection from Aidan Jones to Andres Mendoza.
“Getting the team rallying has been a problem for us so just getting that momentum,” said Jones who contributed to an efficient night for the St. Anthony offense. “We got the momentum and everyone was playing together and we didn’t stop from there.”
The Huskies found a reply on their next drive leaning on running backs Tyler Arguinzoni and Anthony Gonzales. South Hills converted a fourth down on the drive before a five-yard touchdown by Arguinzoni to tie the game 7-7.
St. Anthony started feeding Jasiah Lolesio-Pua on its next drive and the senior capped the drive off with a 10-yard rushing touchdown. After the half, the Saints tacked on a field goal from Christian Martin before a one-yard TD plunge from Marco Camacho to give St. Anthony a 24-7 lead.
Lolesio-Pua found another touchdown at the end of the game, and ended his night with 17 carries for 166 rushing yards and two touchdowns.
“I think in the first half they had the ball most of the time, and we didn’t get going on offense yet,” said Lolesio-Pua. “But we were able to get our playmakers going and we have multiple of them, it’s not just me. We have [Mendoza] and other RB’s, and that’s what we used today.”
South Hills found their second and final score in the fourth quarter from RB Messiah Luter, but had their ground game mostly minimized throughout the game thanks to a stout St. Anthony defense. The Huskies carried the ball 54 times and burned 28 minutes and seven seconds off the clock with just two scores to show for it.
“We knew that our job on defense was stopping the run, and the way we prepped was the way we played,” said junior leader on defense Jeremiah Taufi. “Even though they put up 14, I believe we have the best run stopping defense in this division. It’s all the preparation all week.”
“He’s been our quarterback on defense all year and he’ll even play whatever we need on offense,” added Magdaleno of Taufi. “He just sees things and he’s a coach on the field. He’s so un-selfish and I’m so proud of him.”
Magdaleno has also preached the importance of winning the turnover battle coming into the game, and the Saints came out with a takeaway from Jerrel Jones in the fourth quarter while not giving the ball up all game.
QB Aidan Jones added to the clean game on offense, throwing for 143 yards and a touchdown. Andres Mendoza hauled in three grads for 125 yards and a touchdown.
“Not only playing a clean game on offense but grinding it out on defense with some plays on special teams. When you play a game with all three phases and don’t turn the ball over, it’s hard to be beaten.”
For South Hills, Gonzales finished the game with 27 carries for 151 yards while Arguinzoni had 16 carries for 95 yards and a touchdown.
The Saints will go on the road next week to face Shadow Hills in the second round of the CIF-SS Division 10 playoffs.
