Week 8 of the CCS football season held few surprises for top teams, who mostly cruised to victory, but there was no shortage of compelling action around the section, particularly in the lower divisions of power leagues.
Pair of overtime thrillers in PAL
Both the PAL Ocean Division and Lake Division saw a game finish in overtime on Friday. San Mateo watched a 14-point lead disintegrate in the second half as Carlmont rallied to tie the game at 21, but the Bearcat defense stepped up in the extra period. On Carlmont’s second play, Soane Kolokihakaufisi forced a fumble that Luke Fanguna was able to recover, redeeming a defense that had given up its second-highest point total on the year. Two plays later, Luke Bergstrom ran for a game-winning eight-yard touchdown to improve San Mateo’s record to 6-1, the program’s best start in over a decade. Bergstrom ran for 113 yards and three touchdowns while Lucas Castillo also ran for 100 yards. Kevin Pelaez led the defense with 16 tackles.
El Camino also won in overtime Friday, making for a memorable homecoming as the Colts snapped a six-game losing streak by beating Capuchino 12-6. Josh Matheisen threw a touchdown to Justin Vargas to put the Colts ahead, and the El Camino defense got the stop to clinch the win even after missing the extra point following the touchdown.
Silver Creek shakes up BVAL Santa Teresa race
Branham stayed atop the BVAL Santa Teresa race with Saturday’s 48-8 pasting of Overfelt, but the teams chasing the Bruins had a wrench thrown into their plans Friday night when Silver Creek shut out Willow Glen, 19-0.
Soledad wins thriller
Wide receiver Josiah Freeman threw a 53-yard pass to Marcos Morales on a trick play with 30 seconds left to set up Richard Urquidez’s game-winning one-yard touchdown run as Soledad rallied for a thrilling homecoming victory, 28-21 over Monterey. Kevin Oliver tied the game on a 51-yard touchdown run with 8:18 left and Freeman scored the first Aztec touchdown, hauling in a Damian Mejia pass. Issaiah Cruz returned a kickoff for Soledad’s other score. Urquidez and Richard Villalobos each had an eye-popping six sacks to lead the defensive effort.
Gunn double wing keeps humming along
Eitan Smolyar ran for 115 yards and two touchdowns and Phillip Doan ran for 193 yards, including a 44-yard score, as Gunn raced to a 56-32 victory over Los Altos in SCVAL El Camino play as the Titans continued to control their own destiny in the league title hunt. Aaron Parker ran 25 times for 266 yards in defeat, with four of the Eagles’ touchdowns.
Buchanan and Ryan star again
St. Ignatius beat Bellarmine for a third straight year, rolling to a 28-7 win behind a monster night from Teddye Buchanan and Danny Ryan. Buchanan will be playing linebacker at UC Davis next year, and he excelled at the position again against the Bells. Playing just three quarters, he had 10 tackles, including a sack and a second TFL, plus a forced fumble. Offensively, he carried the ball six times for 25 yards and a touchdown while completing 17 of 19 passes for 223 yards and three more TDs. Ryan had a remarkable night on the receiving end of passes from both Buchanan and Zach Taylor-Smith, with 11 catches for 149 yards and all three of the touchdown passes thrown by Buchanan.
Running back showdown in Pacifica
Terra Nova came back from an early two-score deficit for a 29-25 win over Burlingame, likely swiping an automatic playoff berth from the Panthers and putting Burlingame’s 10-year playoff streak in serious jeopardy. The end result was a product of a legendary running back battle between Jalen Camp and Lucas Meredith, with Camp’s Tigers coming out on top. The Riordan transfer ran for 311 yards and a pair of touchdowns on 36 carries, while Meredith found the end zone for all four of Burlingame’s scores, racking up 199 yards on his 24 runs. Ultimately, the difference proved to be in special teams, where Burlingame failed on three two-point conversion tries, trying to salvage a bad snap after the second touchdown and then going for standard two-point attempts on the other two in hopes of making up the squandered points from earlier. Michael Giannini made all three of his extra points for Terra Nova and the Tigers went for two to take a three-point lead early in the fourth, fittingly converting on a run by Camp.
Hofmann shatters records
Not far down the coast from the battle between Camp and Meredith, Half Moon Bay rolled to a 54-14 win over Menlo behind a historic night from Tristan Hofmann. On 29 carries, he ran for 363 yards and six touchdowns, breaking school records in both categories.
