Bishop O’Dowd head coach Napoleon Kaufman says at the beginning of the year that he has just one ultimate goal for his team – to win their final game of the season in the post-season, to reach the highest pinnacle they can possibly achieve.
So while a state title might have been out of reach due to multiple postponements of the North Coast Section playoffs, Kaufman and his team were determined to decide their fate on the field, and on Saturday night, that meant culminating their season with a 16-15 victory over Marin Catholic in the Division II title game.
It was the third straight year the teams had met in the post-season. Two years ago, the Dragons had blanked Marin Catholic to win the Division III crown. Last year, the Wildcats turned the tables with a semifinal victory, on the way to their own section title. But this one held the most drama.
Quarterback Gaven Cooke’s one-yard touchdown run and ensuing two-point conversion run gave Marin Catholic a 15-9 lead with 8:21 left in the third quarter, but the Wildcats would manage just one first down the rest of the game. And while its defense was outstanding, Bishop O’Dowd needed one big play against a stout Marin Catholic defense, and it happened two plays into the fourth quarter when Moe Flynn and Jelani Warren hooked up for a 51-yard touchdown. Gabriel Plasencia’s extra-point provided the eventual game-winning margin.
Stanford commit Austin Jones ran for 163 yards on 27 carries for O’Dowd, including a 75-yard touchdown in the first half. Sophomore Matteo Perez paced the Wildcats with 95 yards on 17 carries, but the Dragons’ defense held Marin Catholic to 182 total yards of offense.
Middletown ends frustration against Salesian
Drake Harbison ran for 130 yards, including a touchdown which put Middletown up by 21 points in the second half, as the Mustangs completed an improbable run to the North Coast Section Division V title, defeating Salesian 28-14.
Normally ground-oriented, Middletown also successfully took to the air in the championship win, as quarterback RH Hess completed 13-of-18 passes for 204 yards and a pair of scores. Nico Barrio had eight catches for 138 yards and two touchdowns, while Harbison added four catches for 49 yards and a score, and also threw a touchdown to Barrio on a halfback pass.
Middletown led 7-0 at halftime and extended the lead to 28-7 in the second half, despite Salesian junior quarterback Ronald Robertson throwing for 262 yards.
The win gave the Mustangs their first NCS title since winning three of them in a five-year span between 1997 and 2001, all of which came under current head coach Bill Foltmer. Middletown also reached the title game last year, but lost to St. Patrick-St. Vincent. The Mustangs had entered the post-season as a five seed, but knocked off four seed Fort Bragg, top seeded Kelseyville, and now two-seed Salesian to capture the section crown.
Fortuna storms past Moreau for back-to-back titles
For the first 26 games of his career as a head high school football coach, Rob Gatrell never tasted defeat. But on Saturday night, facing a healthy and revitalized Fortuna squad, Moreau Catholic could not keep up with the Huskies, falling 61-35.
Both teams combined for an explosive first quarter, after which Fortuna led 22-21. Three different Fortuna players – Joey Pontes, Zac Claus and Travis Lourenzo – all reached the end zone in the first quarter, while junior Fresh Ison took it upon his own shoulders to keep Moreau in the game, scoring on runs of 1, 63 and 47 yards in the opening quarter alone. Claus’ second touchdown of the night made it 29-21 in favor of the Huskies at the half.
Lourenzo’s second score of the night, to start the third quarter, made it 36-21 in favor of Fortuna before Ison broke off a 34-yard scoring jaunt to close the gap to 36-28. But that was as close as the Mariners would get during the rest of the night. Claus added his third rushing touchdown on the next drive, and after that, Pontes ripped off a 40-yard rushing score on fourth-and-one to make it a 20-point game at 48-28. Pontes’ third scoring run minutes later put the game well out of reach.
The win gave Fortuna back-to-back NCS championships, after the Huskies dominated Hercules in last year’s title game. For Moreau Catholic, the loss came in their first-ever trip to the title game.
