BCHS' Peterson lights up Arena Bowl with 17-for-18, 5-touchdown performance
| Friday, May 01 2009 11:32 PM
Last Updated Friday, May 01 2009 11:32 PM
Turns out Jake Peterson can still play a little quarterback, too.
The Bakersfield Christian wide receiver put on an indoor-football clinic Friday night at Rabobank Arena in the eighth annual U.S. Army Arena Bowl, leading the West team to a 59-41 victory against the East.
Peterson, who moved to wide receiver after Derek Carr arrived at BCHS last summer, had a huge year as a wideout but stepped back into his old role without a hitch. He completed 17-of-18 passes for 215 yards and five touchdowns -- numbers Carr, who was watching from the sideline, would have been proud of.
"I like playing every position," Peterson said. "Whatever's going to help my team win, I'm doing. Of course it was fun, too."
Peterson, who won MVP honors, also ran for two touchdowns and caught a pass from West High's Dion Curry on the back of a trick play that set up a TD. His three TD passes on consecutive possessions late in the first quarter erased an early 13-0 East lead and helped the West to a 27-13 lead that was never seriously challenged.
"I hope we proved to everyone that BCHS wasn't just a (Division V) school," said Peterson, who with Carr helped the Eagles romp to the D-V Central Section title last fall. Carr, who didn't play because he's already a member of Fresno State's spring team came and held Peterson's MVP plaque after the game. Peterson plans to join Carr as a walk-on receiver at FSU in the fall.
"We can play with anyone, and now we're ready for the next level," Peterson said.
There were plenty of other stars in the shootout. Golden Valley's Byron Newman returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown -- the fourth straight Arena Bowl that a touchdown has been scored on the opening play. Newman returned another one in the second quarter, brining the crowd of more than 5,000 to its feet once again. After that, the East mostly tried kicking out of bounds. Newman was the offensive player of the game.
"I wanted the first kick return; I've been saying that since we got out here," Newman said. "They got it to me, and I took it to the house. I wanted to keep the tradition going."
There was Newman's backfield mate, North High's Julian Dean-Johnson, who scored a couple of electrifying touchdowns in the second half. He took a pitch and then a short pass from Foothill quarterback Matt Guerra and worked his way through traffic for scores of 22 and 30 yards to keep the East close.
But the West's advantage in size was too much for the East on the line of scrimmage. West High's Brache Hayes (lineman of the game) had three sacks, Taft's Ben Savaii had two, Ridgeview's Yannis Mallory had another and Curry, the game's defensive MVP, made two interceptions when Guerra was forced to throw under pressure. Guerra was sacked six times and the East was held to 3 yards rushing in the first half.
"They had a good D, very good containment," Newman said. "The eye was on me, and they shut me down."
Peterson found seven different receivers for completions -- twice early to West High's George Robbins, twice to Wasco's Jonathan Wimberly for touchdowns and also to Centennial's Brett Wallace and to Curry for second-half TDs.
