By Kevin Askeland
MaxPreps.com
SAN JOSE – Bellarmine coach Mike Janda admits that his standout running back Usua Amanam doesn’t normally carry the ball 40 times in a ballgame, but desperate times call for desperate measures.
“One of our running backs was a little dinged up so we had to go with Usua most of the night,” Janda said. “The offensive line did a great job for him. He doesn’t need much of a crease and he’s gone.”
Amanam ran 41 times for 268 yards and scored three touchdowns in Bellarmine’s 25-7 win over Serra of San Mateo in the semifinals of the Central Coast Section Open Division playoffs at San Jose City College on Saturday. Amanam might have scored a fourth touchdown, but he fumbled at the 2-yard line and teammate Roman Garcia recovered the ball in the end zone.
The 41 carries was one quarter of all the carries Amanam has had this year and the 268 yards is a season high. Amanam, who has given a verbal commitment to Stanford, had carried the ball 162 times in 10 games this year for 1,294 yards. His best previous outing was a 237-yard effort on 25 carries in the third game of the season.
The real star of the game, however, may have been the Bellarmine defense. The Bells limited Serra, which had averaged four touchdowns per game during West Catholic Athletic League play, to just one touchdown on a 50-yard pass from Cody Jackson to Deondrae’ Clark with 4:07 left in the first half.
“The defense played its best game of the season,” Janda said. “We basically gave up one play the entire game. That’s a pretty incredible performance.”
Serra had defeated Bellarmine 31-23 in October, handing the Bells their only loss of the season. In that game, Serra ran for 303 yards and had 383 yards of total offense.
However Sera was unable to get its running game on track Saturday as it managed just 12 yards on 20 carries. Jackson was able to pick up some of the slack as he completed 9 of 15 passes for 148 yards.
Despite Bellarmine’s defensive prowess and Amanam’s big game, the contest was still very much in doubt early in the fourth quarter. Serra nearly took the lead in the third period when it marched deep into Bellarmine territory at the 9-yard line.
But a penalty, a fumbled snap and a short gain on a keeper by Jackson set up a 25-yard field goal by Serra’s Greg Guttas. The field goal attempt sailed wide, however, leaving Bellarmine with the 12-7 advantage.
The Padres got one more chance early in the fourth quarter when Austyn Carta-Samuels fumbled the snap and Kyle Gschwend recovered at the Bellarmine 43.
However Joe Sever stripped the ball from Jackson on the very next play giving the ball back to the Bells. Amanam gained 22 yards on first down and scored on a 26-yard run three plays later to give Bellarmine an 18-7 advantage with 8 minutes, 11 seconds left in the game.
Amanam added a 32-yard scoring run with 5:16 remaining to put the game out of reach.
Bellarmine scored on its first possession, marching 65 yards on nine plays with Amanam scoring from seven yards out.
Bellarmine made it 12-0 on its next series, going 63 yards on 17 plays. Amanam carried the ball on the touchdown, but fumbled into the end zone from the 2-yard line. After the referees cleared away the pile, they found Garcia at the bottom holding onto the ball and signaled touchdown Bellarmine.
Serra answered with its only scoring drive of the night with Jackson finding Clark straight down the middle of the field for the 50-yard score.
Serra ends its season with an 8-4 record. Bellarmine advances to play Valley Christian in the championship game. The Bells defeated Valley Christian 27-16 early in the season.
Sacred Heart Cathedral 40, The King’s Academy 21
The big-play ability of Sacred Heart Cathedral proved too much for The King’s Academy to overcome in a Central Coast Section Small Schools semifinal game at Terra Nova High School in Pacifica as the Fighting Irish scored four touchdowns longer than 30 yards in a 40-21 victory Saturday.
While the Knights were able to rack up close to 400 yards rushing on the day, their long drives were no match for the quick strike ability of the Fighting Irish. Sacred Heart Cathedral had three scoring drives that took three plays or less in building a 31-14 lead early in the third quarter.
DeSarte Yarnway got the Fighting Irish on the board on their first play of the game. After stopping the Knights on their first series, Sacred Heart Cathedral took over at The King’s Academy 34. On first down, Yarnway ran around right end for a 34-yard score.
The touchdown was one of two on the day for Yarnway, who carried the ball sparingly in the first half, but finished the day with 18 carries for 140 yards. He also scored on a 46-yard pass from Tim Brophy with 48 seconds left in the first half to put the Fighting Irish ahead 24-14.
The Knights had their own stars of the game. Amir Carlisle scored all three of his team’s touchdowns, often in spectacular fashion. Following Yarnway’s opening touchdown, Carlisle returned the kickoff and appeared to be stopped by three Irish defenders around the 30. However all three players bounced off Carlisle, who continued downfield 98 yards for a touchdown.
Carlisle also had a 77-yard touchdown run just before Yarnway’s touchdown reception late in the second quarter and added a 10-yard scoring run late in the third period to cut Sacred Heart Cathedral’s lead to 31-21. Carlisle finished the game with 19 carries for exactly 200 yards.
The Irish quickly answered Carlisle’s last touchdown with a 58-yard run by Harley Libarle. The big fullback also scored on a 10-yard run in the first half and finished with 122 yards on nine carries.
Sacred Heart Cathedral’s other touchdown came on a 66-yard reverse by Kenny Cavness on the third play of the second half that gave the Irish a 31-14 lead. Kyle Anderson also kicked a 33-yard field goal in the first quarter and the Knights gave up a safety late in the fourth quarter when the quarterback was called for intentional grounding in the end zone.
Sacred Heart Cathedral moves on to play Sacred Heart Prep in the Small Schools championship game at a site and time to be determined. Sacred Heart Cathedral is 7-5 on the year while King’s Academy ends its season at 10-1-1.