Summerville Vs. Monte Vista Championship Game Recap
Written by: Mike Woicicki
Fullerton, CA — On Saturday afternoon, way down in Fullerton, the Summerville Bears defeated the Monte Vista Monarchs 38 to 21 and were crowned the CIF Division 6-A State Champions.
While the rain was pelting Northern California, the Bears won the coin toss under a SoCal sunny sky and deferred to the second half. The Monarchs returned the kickoff to their own twenty-five to start the action. After a 3 and out, a short punt gave the Bears outstanding field position on their own 47-yard line. From there the Bears drove down the field and Bryce Leveroos started the scoring with a 1-yard run followed by a Bryson Benites extra point.
The next Monarch possession ended with a fumble recovered by Bear defender Owen Herrera on the twenty-five yard line. The Bears were unable to move the ball and settled for a 22-yard Benites field goal.
Down by ten, the Monarchs gained some traction and put together a 65-yard drive to score their first points of the afternoon. Undaunted, on the next play from scrimmage, Leveroos dropped back and laid a perfect pass into the hands of a sprinting Luke Larson who caught it on the fifty and ran to pay dirt. But the Monarchs held their heads high and came right back with a score of their own and first half came to a close with the Bears up by just three, 17 to 14.
As in previous games, the Bears came out for the second half ready to rumble. The defense contributed with a blocked punt, a forced fumble, and outstanding play against the Monarchs’ strong rushing offense while the Bear offense put together three drives ending with touchdowns. Leveroos ran two in, one from 13 and the other from 49 yards, while Colton Cash sprinted around the right side from 13 for the Bears’ final score of the night.
With Benites kicking all the extra points, the Bears took a 38 to 14 lead into the closing minutes of the game. The Monarchs, however, were not giving up and they scored their final TD with just a minute left. After the player handshakes the Monarchs were awarded their second-place banner and then the Bears received the state championship trophy.
Luke Larson had the Hot Hit of the Game when he set the tone for the defense with a hard tackle of the Monarchs’ best runner. Bryce Leveroos was the Player of the Game with 21 runs for 166 yards and 3 TDs while going 4 for 5 passing for 157 yards and 1 TD.
