Future iterations of the California State Bowl Championship series will be hard-pressed to top the 2009 version.
The first four games were decided by five points or less, and the Open Bowl was 28-14 with Concord De La Salle overcoming a 14-0 deficit to Los Angeles Crenshaw.
Servite, which was seriously considered as a South representative for the Open Bowl, scored on the final play of the game to score a 33-30 victory over Rocklin in Division II.
Only one game was decided on the final play, Nicholas Echeverry's field goal for Servite.
Photo by Dirk Dewachter
Gardena Serra held on in the closing minutes against Kentfield Marin Catholic to post a 24-20 victory in Division III.
On Friday night, Modesto Christian won a 44-40 shootout over San Diego Parker in the Small Schools Bowl, and it was followed by Oceanside's 24-19 victory over San Jose Bellarmine Prep in Division I.
Crenshaw's big night out
In the week leading up to the Division I Bowl, much was made of Crenshaw getting the opportunity to represent for the Los Angeles City Section's first bowl game appearance.
Coach Robert Garrett felt a lot of support. “I was proud to see that,” he said. “Lot of support, not just from the community, but saw a lot of kids from rival schools, kids from our league, kids from throughout the City, it's great that you can have a football game bring communities together. From what I seen, the impact is real special. We lost on the scoreboard, but we're winners in our heart, the kids know that, and we'll keep that going.”
The Black Mamba's bite
De'Anthony Thomas, nickname "Black Mamba" as a youngster by rapper Snoop Dogg – many in the Crenshaw program are a product of Dogg's youth football program – scored twice in the first quarter but was injured on a tackle after chasing down and tackling Tyler Anderson at the end of a 40-yard run. De La Salle scored from 1 yard on the next play. A twisted ankle relegated Thomas to the sideline for the rest of the second quarter, and his only action afterward was as a decoy with 8:55 left in the game on third- and fourth-and-11 plays.
Thomas carried six times for 73 yards and TD runs of 43 and 11 yards.
Would the game have been different if Thomas had remained in the game?
“Might have been,” said De La Salle Coach Bob Ladouceur. “I think he would have got his yards. He kind of shocked us on a couple of runs. We made a couple of adjustments at halftime to counter him but he didn't show up. It didn't hurt us having him on the sideline.
“He had a great year. It's hard to solve a kid like that, He's a great talent.”
Servite's case for No. 1
Servite is No. 1 in the MaxPreps computer-based state ranking, but the Friars were ranked behind Crenshaw, Oceanside and Concord De La Salle in various other state rankings.
Servite (14-1) played the toughest schedule in the state, and it avenged its only loss with a victory over Huntington Beach Edison last week, but the Friars weren't in the Open Bowl.
“It's so hard to tell where you deserve to be,” said Servite Coach Troy Thomas. “Against the teams they put in front of us, we went 14-1. We can't do anything more than that, if we were supposed to be No. 1 or No. 2 or whatever, the rankings don't mean much to me, it's more about how we play.”
Admittedly, Servite didn't play its best on Saturday, Thomas said, but by beating Rocklin (14-1) the Friars beat their third consecutive undefeated opponent, adding to Edison (13-1) in the Southern Section Pac-5 finals and Mission Viejo (12-1) in the section semifinals.
MaxPreps State rankings had Servite, Edison, Mission Viejo, Westlake Village Westlake (14-0) and Crenshaw (14-1) as the state's top five teams. De La Salle (13-2) was No. 9, Rocklin was No. 10.
Nicholls' big presence
Chris Nicholls returned a punt 55 yards to give Servite a 14-0 lead, and after Rocklin pulled to 17-10, the speedster was a decoy on a 60-yard touchdown pass from Cody Fajardo to Rudy Guerrero. Actually, he ran the wrong route but it worked out perfectly. He ran a down and in, and his presence forced the safety to cover him. That allowed Guerrero to bust free deep down the middle of the field where he ran under Fajardo's long pass.
“The play went perfectly, just as it was drawn up,” Nicholls said.
Or, as it was not drawn up.
As for the punt return, Nicholls – who scored on a 54-yard run in a quagmire a week earlier to finish off Edison – benefited from a new return instituted specifically for this week.
“Our special teams coordinator (Ken Foersch) just put it in,” Servite coach Troy Thomas said. “We felt like we had something there. He (Brian Wardlaw) was kicking some line drive balls and we thought we could get a good return on it. You give that guy space, he's special. That was a huge play for us.”
Said Rocklin defensive coordinator Jason Adams: “He's a tremendous player. We talked all week about No. 4 (quarterback Cody Fajardo) and No. 6 (Nicholls), and No. 10 (Guerrero) has good speed, too.”
Special teams for a special team
No question that Servite won its game based on its special teams play.
Nick Echeverry kicked four field goals, of 47, 39, 43 and 23 yards, with the 39-yarder coming as time expired on the first half to go ahead 27-10, the 23-yarder as the game clock expired on the 33-30 victory.
Nicholls returned a punt for the touchdown to give Servite a 14-0 lead.
Servite's Wyatt Baker blocked a PAT with 11:47 left to protect a 30-23 lead, a play that was surprisingly big given that Rocklin scored on its next possession, too.
Rocklin's Vincent Barrow kicked a 22-yard field goal, but missed a 27-yarder that preceded Echeverry's kick at the end of halftime.
Quarterback blues – or not
Rocklin quarterback Jimmy Lauchrea suffered a broken non-throwing arm last week against Del Oro, but he was ably replaced by Tiger Sorenson, who had been the Thunder's starting QB last season before he was injured. He came back as a wide receiver.
Lauchrea completed 54.7 percent of his passes and threw for 2,635 yards with 22 touchdowns and nine interceptions. He was on the sidelines with his left arm in a sling.
Sorenson came into the game having completed three of eight passes. He looked pretty good overall, and although he had two, he completed 15 of 30 passes for 241 yards and two touchdowns.
Although Sorenson was the backup, a year ago he was the starter at the beginning of the season but got injured; that's when Lauchrea took over, and Sorenson came back as a receiver.
Sunny with a chance of lightning
At the beginning of the Division II Bowl Championship, an airplane circled the Home Depot Center with a banner trailing that read: “The Perfect Storm – Go Rocklin Thunder!”
You want me to do what?
You never know when your number will be called, and sophomore Chris Tewhill's was called in the first quarter when Marin Catholic starting quarterback Nate Kristoff suffered a hip pointer against the Gardena Serra defense.
Kristoff was four-for-four for 37 yards and a touchdown – a 13-yarder to Tyler Scott. Tewhill attempted as many passes in the game as he had attempted all season. He finished three for seven with a touchdown and interception. The touchdown covered 82 yards, which accounted for all his passing yards. During the season, he had completed two of seven passes for 14 yards.
Still, his performance was pretty good given the circumstances.
“We came down to our last series with two minutes left and we just couldn't quite get it down there,” said Ken Peralta, Marin Catholic's coach. “Our young quarterback did a hell of a job. He didn't get too many reps this week, I'll be honest with out. We were counting on Nate being there.
“We were playing one of the best teams in the state and we almost beat them. (If) we hit a pop pass in the middle there and maybe we win.” That would be an overthrown pass from Tewhill to Connor Murphy in the final minute of the third quarter.
Serra's shift in momentum
It was a simple swing pass, but Robert Woods weaved his way down the field for a 30-yard touchdown reception, escaping the clutches of four would-be tacklers. Woods' run, with 1:53 left in the third quarter, gave Serra its decisive 24-20 lead but really sparked the momentum shift that carried the Cavaliers to its victory over Marin Catholic.
“I would agree with you,” Peralta said. “Definitely, the momentum and the score change. That's the biggest thing.
“What happens in these types of games, the crowd comes into play. They had a nice crowd. Theirs start cheering, and we forget about our side. I think that was critical.”
The crowd roared again on the ensuing kickoff. Marin Catholic's Mason Brown was tackled at the 7-yard line after being hit by Serra's Woodson Greer and finished off by Lawrence Council and Daniel Walker. With its back to the wall, Marin Catholic's offense gained two on a run, Tewhill missed Murphy downfield, and gained four on third down. Then Woods returned the punt 51 yards for a touchdown. It was negated by an illegal block, but the die had been cast. The game was Serra's to lose.
Record-setters
Serra's Woods set a state Division III Bowl record with 180 yards receiving, and quarterback Connor Preston set a division record with 240 passing yards. Marin Catholic's Tewhill set a record for longest pass and longest TD pass in all divisions with his 82-yard completion to Scott.
First down and TD-bound
Serra scored on its first play of the game, a 67-yard pass from Connor Preston to Woods. Eighteen seconds into the game, underdog Marin Catholic knew it was up against it.
“That first play, it was like, 'Whoa boy,'” Peralta said. “We survived some momentum changes. Our kids battled back, real proud of our boys. It was a great day for a our program. We have nothing to be ashamed of.
“We were playing with house money. We had nothing to lose.”
You're in good hands – usually
When Woods fumbled into the end zone while on the verge of scoring and making it a 31-20 game in the fourth quarter, it was only Woods' second fumble of the season. The Cavaliers lost only three fumbles this season and had just 10 turnovers in 14 games coming in.
