CHATSWORTH – Standout running back Isaiah Rameau piled up four touchdowns, leading Chatsworth Charter High School to a win over visiting San Fernando, 42-28, in the CIF Division 2 City Section football semifinals on Friday night.
“He’s been pretty impressive due to the offensive line and the tight ends, the quarterbacks, and the fullbacks,” said Chatsworth coach Marvin Street. “He’s a really humble kid. He understands that he could not do it without them. And we’re just thankful to be completely healthy at this point of this season so that Isaiah can continue to do things for us that typical backs can’t do at this level.”
The senior certainly showcased those non-typical talents against the Tigers (11-2). He ripped off a 60-yard touchdown on his first touch of the night before adding scores of 12 yards, 21 yards and 43 yards.
“Killed us,” said San Fernando coach Charles Burnley. “We just couldn’t find any momentum defensively. He played a hell of a game for them. We knew coming in that he was going to be a factor – a huge factor – and he was. We could just never put it together when we needed to.”
With the win, the second-seeded Chancellors (7-6) advance to the section championship game next week against No. 9 Fairfax, which beat Dr. Maya Angelou Community in the other semifinal game.
Chatsworth held a 22-16 at halftime advantage after it was able to capitalize multiple times on momentum shifting plays. A late first-quarter 63-yard run by Isaiah Rameau on his team’s first play from scrimmage broke the scoreless tie.
On the following drive, Chatsworth defensive back Adrian Jimenez returned an interception nearly 70 yards before being forced out at the 1-yard line. Quarterback Adam Bautista punched it in from there, extending the lead to 15-0.
San Fernando made it a one-score game when quarterback Adrian Anguiano connected with Isaiah Castro who broke a tackle on his way to a 68-yard touchdown. He added two more points on a rushing conversion.
The Tigers took their only lead of the game with just over a minute to play in the half when Anguiano hit Castro for a 31-yard score. Anguiano tacked on a rushing conversion of his own for a 16-15 advantage.
The Chancellors’ deficit was short-lived. With 2.5 seconds remaining in the half, Bautista uncorked a Hail Mary attempt from Chatsworth’s 40-yard line and Angelo Romo came down with it despite being covered. After nearly going down he regained his balance and raced the remaining 35 yards to send Chatsworth into halftime with a 22-16 lead knowing they would receive to start the second half.
“We have Angelo Romo over there and we know that he’s our guy,” said Street. “He does a great job of blocking for us, 99% of the time. And if I’m going to gamble on anybody, I’m going to gamble on him. The kid’s a 4.4 GPA student, taking AP classes, doesn’t miss practice, doesn’t miss workouts. He deserved a shot, and he made it happen.”
They took advantage of opening the third quarter with the ball, grinding out a drive that took nearly six minutes off the clock. Rameau capped the possession with an 11-yard rushing touchdown.
The Tigers responded by quickly moving down the field, advancing all the way to a first-and-goal situation. On a rushing play with a pile of players pushing forward, Ahmad Oden ripped the ball away from its carrier and took it 95 yards the other way for a Chancellor touchdown to push the lead to 19.
Rameau gave Chatsworth its largest lead of the night on the first play of the fourth quarter when he rushed in from 21 yards out for a 42-16 advantage.
San Fernando responded on their next play from scrimmage. Anguiano hit Andrew Munoz deep down the middle. Munoz took the reception 80 yards for a score. Anguiano also tossed his third touchdown to Castro in the fourth quarter – this time from 20 yards.
The Tigers’ comeback attempts appeared alive when they recovered an onside kick after the Munoz touchdown, but the next drive ended when Lizandro Fider came down with an interception. Jimenez finished things off for the Chancellors when his second interception of the game ended San Fernando’s final possession.
“When you look at San Fernando historically from a community perspective, from an athletic department perspective, we knew that these kids were going to be tough,” said Street. “We knew that they were never going to surrender. So any opportunity that they gave us, we had to take advantage of it. And our kids knew that.”