SAN MATEO, CA – To say it was a tale of two halves is a well used cliché, but in reality Prep2Prep CCS top-ranked and Cal-Hi Sports No. 19 and host Serra came out sleepwalking and trailed by two TDs before taking control with six straight touchdowns in a 42-14 CIF Central Coast Section Division 1 home victory on Saturday afternoon.
For most of the first half Serra was dominated up front by Half Moon Bay, particularly in a 23-play, 80-yard scoring drive that culminated in a 3-yard TD run by Connor Quosig. The drive consumed the entire first quarter with the score coming at 11:56 of the second quarter. After a three-and out by Serra the Cougars did it again in a 9-play, 65-yard drive and this time Quosig went in from 9-yards out.
At that point the Padres looked stunned and their fans were getting real restless as Half Moon Bay led 14-0 and had consumed 17:16 to 2:04 for Serra.
None of the media present could remember a team consuming an entire period plus or that kind of time differentiation early in a game, and even Serra Coach Patrick Walsh remarked “I’ve never seen anything like that.”
Despite the early dominance of the visitors it was at that point that the worm started to turn and Serra (10-1) took control. A 57-yard pass from sophomore quarterback Dominique Lampkin to Terence Loville ignited things, but after getting to the 3-yard line a 6-yard loss left the Padres at the nine with third-and-goal. Lampkin dropped back to pass but finding no one open he scrambled around left end and beat the defenders to the end zone to make it 14-7 with 32.9 seconds left in the half.
“Massive,” was the response of Walsh when asked of the importance of that score. “Because it was 14-0 and it was three yards, six yards, four yards, and that sort of thing is demoralizing. It was painful but the good news is cutting it in half made it manageable after deferring and knowing we get the ball in the second half.”
Even though the Serra faithful breathed a sigh of relief, Walsh was visibly still not happy as he followed the team into the locker room where he gave them some stern advice.
“I basically told them the team on the field in the first half. We’re not going out like that,” Walsh said. “We can go out and we can lose our season, and that would be fine, and it happens in life, but we're not going out like that.”
Something must have sunk in because from there it was a Padres highlight reel on offense and defense.
Sophomore Hassan Mahasin rushed for two touchdowns of nine and 36 yards.
Senior wide receiver and defensive back Loville (four catches, 106 yards) had a 24-yard TD reception on a picture perfect fourth-down pass from Lampkin that tied the score at 14-14 on the Padres opening drive of the second half. He also had an interception he returned 24 yards that set up the 9-yard TD by Mahasin.
Lampkin wasn’t just pinpoint on the pass to Loville. He finished 11-of-13 for 130 yards and also rushed for 33 yards and the TD that halved the lead prior to intermission.
Senior Nate Sanchez rushed for a 2-yard TD out of the wildcat formation that gave Serra a 21-14 lead. Sanchez also had the play of the game from his free safety when he stepped in front of the receiver and zigzagged his way 51-yards to pay dirt for a score.
Even punter and placekicker Damon Lewis got into the act with a fourth down 27-yard completion to Christian Pederson out of punt formation that set up the TD by Sanchez.
The reality is Half Moon Bay (10-1) is a small school from a small town but the players played their hearts out against a Serra team that had a lot more size and speed. Many had felt and editorialized that Half Moon Bay, as the top team in the Cal-Hi Sports Small School state rankings, was robbed of a legitimate run at a CIF Bowl Game title by being placed in the Division 1 field, but Coach Keith Holden took it in stride and fans leaving the game only wanted to talk about how proud they were of their boys.
“I think we showed we could play with the big dogs,” responded Holden when asked if he felt his players showed something on the field in defeat. “I know the final score was lopsided, but we just went toe-to-toe with the best team in the WCAL. I think it proves we’re doing things pretty good in Half Moon Bay. Our kids play with heart. Size doesn’t matter, doing things right matters, playing with heart matters. I think our kids showed that.”
Star junior running back and middle linebacker Tristan Hofmann still managed a smile after taking a pretty good beating playing both ways and rushing for a season low 31 yards.
“I think that first quarter shocked everyone,” Hofmann remarked. “But the second quarter showed how small we are, and then the difference was we got really tired in the second half with almost all our players going both ways.”
Half Moon Bay had its season ended but according to Cal-Hi Sports Editor/Publisher Mark Tennis they still could end up as the top or very close to the top small school in the state, and after those first two drives they have a legitimate case to claim that title.
Serra now moves on to face Wilcox-Santa Clara in the semifinals. They’ll have to stop Paul M. Rosa who rushed for 237 yards and three touchdowns, including the game-winner in overtime of a 42-35 victory, as the fifth-seeded Chargers topped No. 4 Menlo-Atherton-Atherton.
