After Brentwood School defeated St. Anthony, 20-7 last Friday night, the Eagles’ coaching staff agreed the Eagles ran the ball as well as they have in an opening game for many years.
The passing game was not nearly as effective.
“That takes time,” said head coach Patrick Brown.
Brentwood ran for 173 yards on 29 carries, averaging better than five yards per try. However, it attempted just nine passes and completed only three.
Two sets of running backs controlled the non-league game at Clark Field in Lakewood.
Veteran starters Ray Nicholson (71 yards on six carries) and Alex Kelln (24 on six carries) were backed up by newcomers Jared Ashkar (67 on 12 carries) and Brandon Leung (10 on five carries).
Ashkar is a freshman and Leung a junior who played on the junior varsity last season.
“When we began practicing in August we saw that Ashkar was fearless and had a good feel for the game,” said Brown.
Ashkar who is 6-foot, 150, had a 35-yard run and two touchdowns.
Nicholson had a 55-yard touchdown run.
Brentwood didn’t commit a turnover while St. Anthony had four.
Brentwood will play on Thursday at Rio Hondo Prep, which was the CIF Northeast Division champion last season and is rated No. 1 this season.
Brentwood defeated Rio Hondo Prep in a non-league game last season on a final play field goal by Charlie James.
The elder James has graduated but his younger brother, Daniel, had two interceptions against St. Anthony.