Sierra Canyon claims second state title with 2-A Bowl win over Serra

Video: Sierra Canyon highlights
Johnathan Hawkins throws touchdown pass against Los Angeles

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Sierra Canyon (Chatsworth) football coach Jon Ellinghouse had a little trouble focusing on Saturday's CIF 2-A State Bowl Championship against Serra (San Mateo).

Thirteen seniors, who began in the program as freshmen, were playing in their last game.

"I don't normally get sentimental during a football game," Ellinghouse said. "But this was a little different. I got a little caught up watching these guys one more time."

So did anyone who watched Sierra Canyon's terrific 42-40 win over Serra. Nobody who you were rooting for.

The game featured 970 yards, outstanding individual efforts from Sierra Canyon's Bobby Cole (30 carries, 220 yards, four touchdowns) and Serra senior quarterback Leki Nunn (440 total yards, six touchdowns), a 95-yard kickoff return for touchdowns, juggling catches, pinpoint passing and overall tremendous back-and-forth action.

In the end, the Trailblazers (16-0) won their second football state championship, and first since 2011.

Afterward, Serra coach Patrick Walsh was disappointed but composed. It was a tough way to lose when his team played with so much guts. Just like Sierra Canyon. This one would be fun to see again.

“It’s a game of inches,” said Walsh, whose team piled up 520 yards. “A few things didn’t go our way. It wasn’t in the cards to win, but congratulations to Sierra Canyon. Their coaches and players do a great job.

“We fought today like we’ve fought all year. … We made a few more mistakes than we have over the last 10 weeks. Sierra Canyon made a few more plays than us. They were a tad better. We had two less points than them and it hurts.”

See box score Down 21-20 at halftime, Serra took its second lead, taking the second half kickoff and traveling 62 yards in eight plays, capped by a Leki Nunn 2-yard TD run.

Like its first lead, this one didn’t last long. Niko Harris drove Sierra Canyon down field 58 yards in eight plays, capped with a 17-yard touchdown pass to Dylan Tait. That gave Sierra Canyon a 28-27 lead with 5:36 left in the third quarter. It would never trailed again.

After Sierra Canyon held on downs, the Trailblazer put together a massive 14-play, 81-yard drive capped with Bobby Cole's third TD, an 11-yard run to make it 35-27 with 8:15 remaining.

Nunn engineered 11-play, 67-yard drive capped with a 17-yard TD pass to Isiah Kendrick, who tipped the ball to himself. Kendrick had a massing game with 222 total yards and two touchdowns. That made it 35-33. On the 2-point conversion, Charlie Quinn caught the ball in the back of the end zone, but both feet were inches out. Sierra Canyon kept the two-point lead with 4:36 left.

The Trailblazer appeared to put it away with another long scoring drive, this one 65 yards in six plays, capped by a 7-yard TD run by Cole, his fourth of the game. That made it 42-33 with 3:05 to play.

But back came Nunn, leading an impressive 70-yard drive finished off by — who else? — Nunn with a 3-yard TD run. It took 52 seconds to do it, cutting Sierra Cayon's lead to 42-40 with 2:06 left.

But Trevor Howarth recovered the onside kick. Serra was out of time outs so Sierra Canyon ran out the clock.

"Both teams showed great resolve and it was a hard-fought competitive game," Ellinghouse said. "But in any dog fight I'd take our guys any time. It's an amazing group."

The game started disastrously for Serra as Cole took a hand-off the second play of the game and run straight up the middle 80 yards for a touchdown.

Serra appeared to be missing a safety.

After a turnover, Cole made it 14-0 on a 6-yard run, capping a seven-play 65-yard drive with 6:09 left in the first.

The Padres shook off the cobwebs and put together a quick three-play, 63-yard drive, capped by a Nunn 14-yard TD run around left end. The extra point was blocked, leaving Sierra Canyon with a 14-6 lead.

The Padres tied it 14-14 midway through the second quarter on a pretty 37-yard TD pass Nunn to Kendrick. Freshman kicker Damon Lewis completed a two-point conversion pass to Charlie Quinn, who made a nifty one-hand catch.

Serra then took its first lead 20-14 on a 35-yard scoring strike from Nunn to Chris Park, but Lewis missed the extra point. That proved huge, because JJ Hernandez took the ensuing kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown with 3:29 left in the half.

Blake Buss’ extra point gave Sierra Canyon a 21-20 halftime lead. Sierra Canyon had 277 first-half yards to 233 for Serra.

Serra (10-5) started the season 0-4, but rattled off 10 straight wins to advance to the Division II-A bowl game. Serra won the Central Coast Section Open Division II final with a 37-24 win over Archbishop Mitty (San Jose) and then defeated Sanger, the Central Section Division II winner, 49-36 in the regional bowl game.

The Trailblazers, who won the Southern Section Division IV championship, advanced to the Division II-A bowl game with a 21-6 win over Los Angeles, the Los Angeles City Section Division II champion.

Sierra Canyon 42, Serra 40

Sierra Canyon  14  7  7  14  -  42
Serra                  6 14 7  13  -  40
First quarter
SC - Bobby Cole 80 run (Blake Buss kick), 11:42
SC - Cole 6 run (Buss kick), 6:09
S - Leki Nunn 14 run (kick blocked), 5:04

Second quarter
S - Isaih Kendrick 37 pass from Nunn (Charles Quinn pass from Damon Lewis), 5:54
S - Chris Park 35 pass from Nunn (kick failed), 3:43
SC - J.J. Hernandez 95 kickoff return (Buss kick), 3:29

Third quarter
S - Nunn 2 run (Lewis kick), 9:37
SC - Dylan Tait 17 pass from Niko Harris (Buss kick), 5:36

Fourth quarter
SC - Cole 11 run (Buss kick), 8:15
S - Kendrick 17 pass from Nunn (pass failed), 4:36
SC - Cole 7 run (Buss kick), 3:05
S - Nunn 3 run (Lewis kick), 2:06

RUSHING
SC - Cole 30-220, Harris 5-23, Gomez 2-4, Kamulali 1-3. S - Nunn 23-109, Kendrick 11-80.

PASSING
SC - Harris 12-22-1-201. S - Nunn 18-34-1-331

RECEIVING
SC - Tait 4-73, Hernandez 4-65, Sam Shardorf 2-41, Max Motel 2-22. S - Kendrick 5-142, Villaroman 5-82, Quinn 3-44, Park 2-40.

TACKLES
SC - Michael Myrick 10, Trevor Howarth 7. S - Taniela Latu 8, Ryan Matoso 7.

TEAM STATISTICS
First downs: SC 18, Serra 19
Rushing attempts/yards: SC 39/249, Serra 34-189
Passing yards: SC 201, Serra 331
Total yards: SC 450, Serra 520
Turnovers: SC 1, Serra 2
Penalities/yards: SC 3-18, Serra 3-35
Time of possession: SC 24:09, Serra 23:51
Third down conversions: SC 9-14, Serra 9-16
Fourth down conversions: SC 0-2, Serra 2-6