St. Bonaventure Takes It to Hart

The win did not give Ventura St. Bonaventure a Southern Section title, but the Seraphs’ 41-34 upset of third-ranked Newhall Hart in a nonleague football game Friday night at Moorpark College might have been the program’s biggest victory.

St. Bonaventure (2-0) won a fourth consecutive section title last season, but the Seraphs’ lone loss was a 31-6 drubbing by Hart that ended a school-record 43-game winning streak.

Quarterback Brian Stevens had struggled through a 10-for-26 and three-interception performance in the loss to Hart, but he completed 23 of 31 passes for 285 yards and two touchdowns on Friday.

Stevens’ second touchdown pass came on a short completion to running back Matt Lee, who raced untouched to the end zone to complete a 44-yard scoring play. The score gave St. Bonaventure, the No. 16-ranked team in the Southland by The Times, the lead, 34-14, with 5 minutes 24 seconds to play in the third quarter.

Lee, a junior, rushed for 211 yards and three touchdowns in 39 carries. He also had four receptions for 75 yards and a touchdown.

Hart (0-2) narrowed the score to 34-21 with 9:08 remaining when Sean Norton threw a 24-yard touchdown pass to Kevin Ciccone.

The Indians, who won four consecutive section titles between 1998-2001, closed to within seven points with 3:55 to play when Evan Surratt caught a 30-yard touchdown pass from Norton.

St. Bonaventure, which won the Division IV title last year, recovered the ensuing on-side kick attempt by Hart and extended its lead when Andrez Morales ran 18 yards for a touchdown to make it 41-27.

Norton, who suffered a rib injury in a 20-17 season-opening loss to top-ranked Los Alamitos, completed 21 of 39 passes for 389 yards and five touchdowns. But Hart was held to 32 yards rushing.