Before he could be asked a question, Christian coach Matt Oliver quickly offered an opinion.
“Deon Randall was unbelievable,” he said.
Who could argue?
The Francis Parker junior quarterback rushed for five touchdowns in leading the Lancers to a shockingly easy 45-21 victory over previously unbeaten Christian last night at Parker.
It was the Lancers' ninth straight win after losing by three points to Division II Westview in the season opener.
Quick as a blink, Randall rushed for 147 yards and passed for another 69, leaving the field only on kickoffs. None of his five touchdowns, though, was more important than a 31-yarder just before the half.
Christian had tied the score at 14 on a 15-yard pass from Erick Allen to Tyrone Sauls and with 1:05 remaining before intermission, many teams would take a knee or two and regroup, especially since they'd get the ball to start the second half.
“We felt like we had the momentum,” Randall said with a smile. “We've been in situations like that before and knew what to do.”
What he did was drive the new Coastal League champions 71 yards, wrapping it up with the 31-yard touchdown on what appeared to be a busted passing play. Randall rolled to his left and took off for the left sideline.
Just when it appeared Randall was going to step out of bounds, Myles Muagututia delivered a crushing block, so Randall veered inside and crossed the goal line with just 12 seconds remaining on the clock.
Asked about the five touchdowns, Randall, who also scored on runs of 12, 15, 12 and 2 yards, lavished praise on his line, many of whom were also part of the defense that all but shut down the Patriots, who had won 23 of their last 24 games.
The defense, led by Devin Clark, Greg Lee, DeMaree Harris and Muagututia, limited 1,500-yard rusher Charles Thompson to 71 yards on 15 carries, his lone TD, a 6-yarder, coming after the starters had retired for the evening.
But as much as he tried to spread around the wealth, it was clear to everyone the difference this evening was Randall, allowing the Lancers to look ahead to the Division V playoffs and a possible Small School California Bowl Championship berth.
“We hope to see them again in the (Division V) championships,” said Oliver, whose club is certain to be the No. 2 seed. “I think we'll need 13 players on the field to stop Randall.”
