Northern California football teams traveling to Southern California can be long and laborious. From the San Francisco Bay Area to the southern tip of Orange County, where the 2021 State Bowl Championships' main games will be held Friday and Saturday, is a good seven-hour bus drive ... at minimum.
It's not much shorter via airplane when marching 50-75 kids in and out of airports. Then again, if you charter a jet, the process speeds up considerably.
That'd precisely the plans of Serra (San Mateo) which takes on the nation's No. 1 team Mater Dei (Santa Ana) in the 8 p.m. Open Division championship on Saturday, the final of five games at Saddleback College in Mission Viejo.
Serra coach Patrick Walsh said Sunday his team, with the help of anonymous donations, will charter a flight from the Bay Area on Thursday to Long Beach Airport, where buses with pick up the players and 135-member entourage on the tarmac and transport them to team lodging.
No word if one of the donors was the pride of Serra, former Padres' quarterback Tom Brady.
The excitement and storyline of trying to defeat the top-ranked Monarchs has been somewhat overshadowed by the controversy surrounding the Mater Dei program. Following a report two weeks ago an alleged
hazing incident in February, a story in the
Southern California News Group Monday detailed a suit by another family concerning an alleged assault off campus by two football players in 2019.
Mater Dei school officials last week said it has hired an outside firm of athletic leaders to conduct
independent investigations. At the same time, the CIF, the state's governing body, condemned hazing in a statement and "maintains that such conduct has no place in the educational settings. Hazing can be both physically and emotionally harmful, and schools should take the necessary steps to prevent and eliminate it from their school environment."
Without schools taking official action, the CIF has no course and "will not comment further on the allegations of hazing regarding Mater Dei High School."
Due to active litigation, Mater Dei coaches, administrators and players will not comment on the allegation, as would Walsh. "It's not my place," he said. "I don't know what happens in their house. I just know I have to get our guys prepared for the best team in the country. We'll give it our best shot."
Here's a quick rundown of five games at Saddleback College. The remaining 10 games will be held at Northern California host sites.
Dominique Lampkin, Serra
File photo by Jim Malone
Serra (11-1) vs. Mater Dei (11-0), 8 p.m. Saturday
These teams have never met, but the schools feature some of the most iconic players in state history. Besides Brady, Lynn Swan attended Serra as did current All-Pro offensive tackle David Bakhtiari. Besides current Heisman favorite Bryce Young (at Alabama), the Monarchs have boasted two Heisman winners, John Huarte and Matt Leinart. From the current teams, Serra quarterback
Dominique Lampkin is a big-time playmaker and
Petelo Gi runs and tackles hard. The team is strong up front, though likely not comparable to Mater Dei's all future college front led by junior
B.J. Tolo and sophomore
Deandre Carter, who started as freshmen. They pave the way to the Monarchs' next great quarterback, sophomore
Elijah Brown, who hands the ball to four-star running back
Raleek Brown (USC commit) and throws to many all-state types like Notre Dame-bound
CJ Williams.
Prediction (CalPreps.com): Mater Dei 48, Serra 0
.
Division 1-AA
Folsom (11-3) vs. Cathedral Catholic (9-2), 8 p.m. Friday
Two teams coming off absolutely sterling regional-title wins. Folsom stunned perennial power De La Salle (Concord) 28-27 behind quarterback
Tyler Tremain, who accounted for 310 yards and all four touchdowns. It avenged five previous loss to the Spartans, including 31-10 earlier in the year when Tremain got injured late. He missed the team's other two losses. With him, the Bulldogs are stout. Cathedral Catholic beat Orange Lutheran (Orange) 72-63 in the highest scoring bowl game in history, thanks largely to a San Diego Section record 435 yards on 27 carries with six touchdowns from
Lucky Sutton. Folsom has won two previous meetings, taking the 2018 1-AA title game 21-14 over the Dons after winning 55-10 in 2014. Folsom is 4-0 in state title games.
Prediction (CalPreps.com): Cathedral Catholic 40, Folsom 31.
Division 1-A
Liberty-Bakersfield (11-2) vs. Serra-Gardena (9-4), 4 p.m. Saturday
Liberty played probably its best game of the year, trouncing Pittsburg 35-7 in the regional final at Bakersfield College. Liberty got three touchdown passes from
Carson Wood, all to Jason Oliver. Running back Jalen Hankins rushed for 127 yards and a touchdown. Before more than 11,000 fans in Gardena, Texas-bound quarterback
Maalik Murphy threw for 280 yards and touchdowns to three different receivers as Serra downed Long Beach Poly, 21-17. Sophomore
Cincere Rhaney rushed for 127 yards.
Prediction (CalPreps.com): Serra 24, Liberty 21.
Division 2-AA
Central Catholic-Modesto (13-1) vs. Mater Dei Catholic-Chula Vista (12-0), 4 p.m. Friday
Central Catholic is tied for second with Folsom (both with four) behind De La Salle for second-most state titles. The Raiders outlasted Bullard, 44-41, behind 281 yards rushing and four touchdowns from
Aiden Taylor and 118 more rushing yards and two scores
Julian Lopez. Central Catholic piled up 441 on the ground. An 80-yard touchdown bomb from
Domonic Nankil to
Jerry McClure was the game-winning score in Mater Dei Catholic's 24-21 regional title win over Helix. McClure is one of just six targets who has at least 20 catches for the Crusaders. Nankil entered the regional final with 2,853 yards passing and 35 touchdowns.
Prediction (CalPreps.com): Mater Dei Catholic 27, Central Catholic 26.
Division 2-A
Wilcox-Santa Clara (10-4) vs. Scripps Ranch-San Diego (12-1), noon Saturday
After a 1-4 start, Wilcox has won nine straight including a 35-21 regional final win over Manteca. As he's done all year,
Kemauri Glenn led the way for the Chargers with 172 yards rushing and two touchdowns, giving him more than 2,200 yards and 27 touchdowns. Quarterback
Armand Johnson accounted for 175 yards and two more scores. Scripps Ranch utilized its high-powered offense to move into the finals with a 45-38 regional title win over Valencia as
Jax Leatherwood completed 18-of-26 passes for 434 yards and five touchdowns, including three to
Conor Lawlor of 29, 81 and 84 yards.
Prediction (CalPreps.com): Scripps Ranch 31, Wilcox 28.
