St. Ignatius junior Elijah Dale carried just twice in the first half, but 10 times after halftime to lift the Wildcats to a 13-10 overtime win over Bellarmine Friday.
File photo by Ernie Abrea
Twice it stopped Serra at the goal line — once in overtime and last week in the final seconds — to win 35-34 and 17-12. Another outing against Mitty, a long touchdown pass in the final minute pulled out a 14-10 thriller.
In its first meeting with St. Ignatius (San Francisco), a long late drive preserved a 35-28 win.
But on Friday night in the Central Coast Section Open Division game, one to likely decide a CIF NorCal Regional final selection, it all caught up with the Bells who dropped a bitter 13-10 overtime game to St. Ignatius, a gritty team which has pulled a few out of its helmet late the last two postseasons.
K.J. Carta-Samuels, Bellarmine QB
File photo by Ernie Abrea
Dale took a handoff from Jack Stinn, broke left and rather than cut inside, he sprinted around the corner almost untouched 10 yards before jumping into the end zone to finish off Bellarmine's two-year hold on the Open Division.
"Everyone sealed their guy," Dale said. "I just ran to the hole. It was there. It was a huge hole. ... The line and receivers did such a good job I didn't have to do much. I was so happy I just had to give it a little jump."
Bellarmine (12-2), which was down five players — four (two starters) were suspended during the week for unspecified reasons and the other, key two-way starter Joey Sanfilippo went down with a calf injury on the first series and never returned — took a 10-7 lead on a 20-yard field goal by Grant Bush on the first possession of overtime.
Just moments earlier in regulation, the Bells were in the exact position to take the lead when they had the ball at the St. Ignatius 3 with 1:19 to go.
After Dale had tied the game at 7-7 with a 1-yard TD run and 6:49 left, Bellarmine had gamely driven the ball 73 yards in 12 plays but the drive stalled on fourth down. Rather than take the chip shot field goal, coach Mike Janda, who has led the Bells to two CIF State Bowl game appearances, went for the touchdown.
Kenneth Olugbode (19 carries, 85 yards) took a hand-off, broke through a small hole on the left but was tackled right at the goal line by linebacker Kevin Sullivan, Noah Bull and a host of Wildcats. Many of the Bellarmine players signaled touchdown, St. Ignatius defenders jumped up and down and the referees waited almost a minute - seemed like an hour - before finally signaling Wildcats' ball.
St. Ignatius (10-3) had held to the chagrin of Janda. The Wildcats then ran off three plays to force overtime.
"We felt we could drive the ball in," Janda said. "Things can happen with snaps and holds (on a kick). We felt confident we could get the yards. SI did the job and made the big play. Congratulations to them.
"We were hoping he was in. It was our best player with the best play. That gave us our best chance."
Bellarmine wasted no time in overtime and Kj Carta-Samuels, who rushed for a game-high 101 yards and a touchdown, ripped off six yards and Olugbode powered for 2. But on 3rd-and-goal, Bellarmine jumped early not just once, but twice, putting the ball back at the 12.
A screen to Olugbode got to the 3 before Bush's field goal put Bellarmine in front 10-7, but not for long.
Jack Stinn, St. Ignatius QB
File photo by Ernie Abrea
The Wildcats, who won the CCS Division III title last year, will now almost assuredly move on to next week's regional finals. Those spots will be handpicked by the CIF commissioners but unless they pick a Division II or smaller school to appear in the NorCal Open Division, St. Ignatius is in.
Frankly, the Wildcats weren't even thinking about it.
Even though his team was battling from behind from the get-go, Dale said he had a good feeling.
Curiously, though he averaged more than 20 carries per game for almost 1,400 yards through 12 games, Dale carried just 12 times (two in the first half) for a team-high 79 yards. St. Ignatius had 272 total yards to 234 for Bellarmine.
"I had a feeling all game we were going to win," Dale said. "The line was in synch all week at practice, opening huge holes. Everyone was on the same page tonight and (Stinn) just kept telling us to stick it out."
This looked like it might be another back-and-forth affair when Bellarmine took its opening drive, went 75 yards on 14 plays, all on the ground (surprise!) and scored on a 2-yard run by Carta-Samuels.
It was a typical grind 'em up and spit them up Bellarmine drive that took up almost eight minutes of the quarter. The bad news for the Bells was that SanFilippo, the team's fastest player and absolutely game-breaker, injured his calf and never returned.
"We're a whole team," Janda said. "We had other guys step up."
St. Ignatius came right back and drove 61 yards in 12 plays, but the drive stalled and a 37-yard field goal try by Michael Capitolo hit the upright.
It set the tone for a frustrating three quarters for the Wildcats, who moved the ball up and down the field but couldn't connect in the red zone.
Finally, on the second play of the fourth quarter, St. Ignatius started a 71-yard drive, almost exclusively on the ground capped by Dale's touchdown with 6:49 remaining.
"That's just SI football," Dale said. "We play hard to the finish. It's four quarters of football. ... You have to play every minute, every second."
Stops by Bull and August Peters down the stretch finally stopped the Bells.
"There's just too much will on this team not to come away with a win," said Peters, a senior defensive lineman. "We're pretty good at making it dramatic."
Bellarmine's last drive was gallant considering playing shorthanded. The Bells were wearing down but found a way to drive the ball down field.
"I
thought our guys battled their hearts out," Janda said. "I thought they did it the
whole game, we just came up a little short."
As joyous as the St. Ignatius sideline was, Bellarmine's side was simply distraught. Players wailed. The Bells, who returned just three starters from last year's State Division I Bowl team, had come an awfully long way since a season-opening 41-7 loss to De La Salle on the very same field.
"We were on the threshold of winning another championship," Janda said. "We
just didn't get it done. ... That last drive was our kind of football. We
just didn't quite finish." NORTH COAST SECTIONDivision II
Clayton Valley-Concord 35, Rancho Cotate-Rohnert Park 7At Diablo Valley College,
Clayton Valley (Concord) took advantage of three Rancho Cotate turnovers in the first half and turned them into touchdowns en route to its first NCS championship. ...
Joe Protheroe capped a drive that took more than 10 minutes off the clock with a 12-yard touchdown run. Protheroe carried 16 of 17 plays on the drive and converted three fourth-down plays. ... "We've always been a go for it on fourth-down team," Eagles coach Tim Murphy said. "I believe in our offensive line and I believe in our kids." ... Joe Protheroe finished with 25 carries for 113 yards and two touchdowns. ... He also returned the second-half kickoff 94 yards for another touchdown. That gave Clayton Valley (12-1) a 35-0 lead. .... The Eagles will assuredly be selected to the CIF NorCal regional final that will played next week at a site and time to be determined. .... Rancho Cotate finished 12-1. .... Joe's Brother
Michael Protheroe ran for touchdown and also passed for a 22-yard score to
Curtis Grant. Grant also had an interception, fumble recovery, and scored a two-point conversion. ... Rancho Cotate's Jalon Luque rushed for a game-high 119 yards and became the school's first ever 2,000 yard rusher.
Joe Protheroe has rushed for nearly 2,900 yards leading Clayton Valley to the likely Division II Regional playoff final next week. Many speculate that Oakdale will be Clayton's probable opponent.
File photo by Dennis Lee
Justin-Siena Napa 27, San Marin-Novato 13Top-seed and host
Justin-Siena (Napa, Calif.) (12-2) got 279 rushing and two touchdowns from
Austin Connolly to win its fifth NCS championship in a game where they never trailed. ...Braves quarterback
Marcus Armstrong-Brown added 110 yards rushing and a 36-yard TD pass to
Brandon Weaver, who also had three sacks and a fumble recovery on
defense. ... No. 10 seed
San Marin (Novato) (7-7) got two short touchdown runs from
Chris Gorman and 224 yards passing from
Manny Wilkins, but the Mustang quarterback was sacked seven times and intercepted once.
