Lincoln prevails in San Francisco's Thanksgiving high school football championship game

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SAN FRANCISCO — Ronald Phelps had a dream. It was a vision he shared with his Lincoln (San Francisco) teammates all season.

"To wake up on Thanksgiving morning and get to play in a championship football game. … ," he said. "Nothing could be better."

But Thursday's 22-12 win over Mission (San Francisco) at legendary Kezar Stadium for the San Francisco Section/93rd annual Turkey Day Game championship was way better than Phelps could have anticipated.

The 6-foot, 285-pound two-way lineman was everywhere, with 13 tackles, three tackles for loss, two sacks and two blocked punts leading the Mustangs (8-5) to their 10th SFS championship.

It's the sixth for the program since 2005 under coach Phil Ferrigno. Mission was trying to become the sixth team to win at least three straight SFS titles.

"That was Mustang football," Phelps kept repeating. "Three Ds baby: Dedication. Discipline. Desire." Phelps also made the key hit of the game, a hard tackle on the right shoulder of Mission quarterback Niamey Harris on the third play of the game.

Harris, a 6-2, 180-pound quarterback, punter and defensive back, felt pain but stayed in the game and two plays later scored on a nifty 23-yard scramble to give Mission a 6-0 lead.

But Harris then felt a piercing sharp throb, was driven to tears at the trainer's table and never returned.

The Academic Athletic Association Player of the Year in both football and basketball as a junior watched helplessly as his team could muster just 202 total yards and just one touchdown after his return.

"Harris is a great player and competitor," Harris said. "I'm sorry he wasn't out there. I really am. But we're a team and not a single player. All my guys played their hearts out. This was an awesome win. An awesome game. This is way better than I could have ever dreamed."

A 13-yard touchdown run with 2:10 to play by senior quarterback Roel Marania (17 carries, 100 yards) all but sealed it for the Mustangs, who also had a big game from Josiah Calvo-Martinez (29 carries, 85 yards, two touchdowns). Lincoln advances to CIF regional play next week. Phelps helped pave the way for all those yards. He was voted the AAA's top offensive lineman as a junior.

"I told you (Phelps) is one of the best linemen around," Ferrigno said. "I don't mean just San Francisco. I mean the entire Bay Area. That kid is amazing."

So is Harris, who accounted for more than 3,000 yards and 40 touchdowns as a junior. His numbers were similar coming in said first-year Mission head coach Greg Hill.

Harris watched all but five plays of the game without shoulder pads, in an undershirt and a made-up sling.

"It was really hard to watch," Harris said. "I felt like I left the team down. I've never had to watch a football game from the sideline because of injury. ... Our guys fought hard though. Especially on defense."

Mission (8-5) still made a game of it behind tenacious defense and a 32-yard touchdown run by Joseph Broussard. that cut Lincoln's lead to 13-12. But the Bears missed Harris most of all as a punter.

A two-yard punt led to Lincoln's TD, a 1-yard run by Calvo-Martinez on an 8-play, 30 yard drive to make it 6-6 on the last play of the first quarter. Phelps blocked the next punt that was recovered on the Mission 6. Two plays later, Calvo-Martinez powered over from the 3 and Lincoln was up for good, 13-7, with 7:07 left in the half.

"We stood up to them and played Bears' defense, but we definitely had some glitches on special teams," Hill said.

With so much trouble punting the ball, Mission resorted to taking a safety in the middle of the fourth quarter to put Lincoln up 15-12. Following an interception by Jackson Walker, Marania appeared to put it away with his 13-yard TD keeper to make it 22-12 with 2:10 left.

Marania raised his fist triumphantly when he crossed the goal line. His older brother Ronnie quarterbacked Lincoln to three straight titles starting in 2005.

"It was a feeling of relief and exuberance," Marania said. "I felt like we finally put them away." Not so fast. Mission's Floyd Barrow returned the ensuing kickoff 71 yards for a touchdowns, but it was called back by a holding call. From there, the game got rather ugly with three unsportsmanlike calls on Mission.

Hill, in his first season as head coach, made no excuses.

"We can't worry about a bad break, injury or missed call," Hill said. "You have to just keep playing. We did that. We'll be back."

Ferrigno praised Mission's grit, but thought his team's resolve was the difference.

"I've loved our effort all year," he said. "We didn't always play great. Same with today. I would have loved to do more things and put them away earlier. It was ugly ball, but it was a win. A championship win."

Said Phelps: "We kept our composure. We brushed off all the bad plays and went to the next play. Now we're on to next week. We might as well go on and win the state title. Let's go big or go home."