After overmatching Julian last night in the first round of the San Diego Section Division V playoffs, Bishop's head coach Mike David chose his words very carefully. Rather than compare the talent level of the teams involved in the Knights' 49-0 victory at La Jolla, David assessed his Coastal League as a whole.

“Our league is tough, and it gets us ready for playoffs,” he said. “I think our league is definitely the toughest in our division. I think it's one of the better leagues in the state for our division.”

If David's statements are true, it should come as no surprise that Bishop's was able to overpower the Eagles from the opening kickoff. It would certainly explain why the records weren't representative of the final score.

Julian (7-4, 5-2 Southern League) came into the contest four games over .500, while the Knights (5-6, 0-4 Coastal League) were winless in league play. But Bishop's is in a Coastal League that sports two 9-1 teams – Francis Parker and Christian – and has all five teams in the playoffs.

Any frustration the Knights had from their winless league play they quickly took out on the Eagles. Senior Mike Jensen returned the opening kickoff across the 50-yard line. Three plays later, he found himself in the end zone after a 6-yard run, just 51 seconds into the game.

“We knew it was one-and-done, and we wanted to come out strong,” Jensen said. “It's always fun to win like that.”

Although Julian struggled to move the ball for most of the game, its best chances came early. The Eagles moved their first two drives into Bishop's territory, aided by a fumble recovery on the Knights' second possession, but both of those drives stalled.

The crushing blows for Julian came late in the first quarter, when it turned the ball over twice and gave up two touchdowns in a manner of a few plays. Facing a fourth and 6 on the Bishop's 41-yard line, Eagles quarterback Lawrence Olsen couldn't shake defensive lineman Jesse Ramey and took a 19-yard sack to turn the ball over on downs.

On the next play, Knights quarterback Joey Moreno threw a strike to Hector Eribez for a 40-yard touchdown pass.

After a fumble recovery on the kickoff, Bishop's scored another touchdown two plays later on a 6-yard run by Jacob Kelly, all but guaranteeing the Knights would take on a familiar foe next week.

With the win, Bishop's faces Horizon on Friday, a fellow Coastal League member that won the teams' previous meeting 42-18 on Oct. 31.

“That's motivation right there,” Jensen said. “We want them bad.”