The swagger has returned to the St. Bonaventure High program.

Although it took three defensive stands and a breakout game from its premier offensive player to do it.

Rushing for more than 200 yards for the 14th time in his career, Darrell Scott scored three touchdowns, including an excuse-me 68-yard reception, as St. Bonaventure (2-0) defeated Atascadero (1-1), 34-14, on Friday night at Larrabee Stadium.

Scott gained 203 yards rushing and caught three passes for 69 yards in the Moorpark transfer's second game in a Seraphs uniform.

"This was just awesome," said Scott. "The team definitely has its swagger back."

It was a reassuring voice for a program that failed to reach a CIF championship game last fall for the first time in eight years.

The Seraphs had dropped from No. 1 to No. 3 in the state ranking by CalHiSports.com this week despite beating Santa Margarita, 15-14, in the season opener.

St. Bonaventure quarterback Tony Macarena had a career game, completing 10 of 11 passes for 202 yards and three touchdowns. One by accident. A shuttle pass to Raphael Washington miraculously landed in the hands of an awaiting Scott, who turned it into a TD catch.

"I saw Tony's hand go forward and the ball bounce off of Raphael's knee," said Scott. "When I got the ball, I told myself I have to get going."

The Seraphs, who were shut out for 44 minutes against Santa Margarita, had 418 yards in total offense and scored on five of their eight possessions. A lost fumble and two failed fourth-down attempts stopped the other St. Bonaventure drives.

Atascadero, which gained 411 yards rushing in its opener, peppered the St. Bonaventure defense with gains of 5 yards or more on 22 rushing attempts, finishing with 239 yards on 46 carries.

The Greyhounds were stopped three times inside the St. Bonaventure 20-yard line. Field-goal attempts of 30 and 32 yards were wide of the mark.

"Defense starts inside the red zone," said first-year coach Todd Therrien. "We really made some good stops.

"This team more and more reminds me of the 2005 team that had players like Dwight Roberson."

That constant pounding of short gains was a source of disappointment, however.

"Our goal is to hold teams to 2.5 yards per rush," said Therrien. "I guarantee that we didn't do that tonight. That's something that has to be fixed."

Atascadero's average gain on the ground was 5.2 yards. The Seraphs' fast closing speed to the ball limited Atascadero to just four rushes more than 10 yards, including a 31-yard TD run by Nick Tenhaeff.

Tenhaeff eluded two St. Bonaventure defenders behind the line of scrimmage.

St. Bonaventure hung onto a 14-7 lead until midway through the third quarter when Scott took a pitch from Macarena deep in the backfield, stiff-armed one opponent and raced untouched the rest of the way for a 68-yard touchdown.

Blayne Lewis caught two passes for 93 yards, including a 54-yard TD reception, for St. Bonaventure.