Half Moon Bay quarterback Gavin Tomberlin rolled to his left on third-and-six from the Live Oak 31-yard line, then stopped and threw back to tight Hayden Von Almen, who had waited patiently at the line of scrimmage for the screen pass. It worked perfectly as Von Almen wove his way around Acorn defenders for the 31-yard touchdown, triggering 20 straight points as the Cougars rolled into the CCS Open III title game with a 52-17 victory on Friday night.
"The tight end screen was executed perfectly by everyone, just how we work on it in practice," said Tomberlin. "We came out a little slow, but put the pedal to the metal in the last two quarters."
Half Moon Bay built an early 20-0 lead after a pair of short touchdown runs from Chase Hofmann, but Live Oak closed the gap with just over five minutes left in the first half when Jonathan Singleton connected on a 80-yard touchdown pass. The Acorns then recovered a Half Moon Bay fumble on the next drive, and converted a field goal to close within 10 points, 20-10.
The Cougars pushed the lead before half again, however, when Dylan Williams easily drilled a 49-yard field goal for a 23-10 lead at the break.
Live Oak closed the gap again when Singleton threw his second touchdown pass early in the third quarter, but the Cougars scored the final 29 points of the game to win going away and advance to the CCS Open III championship.
Tomberlin scored on a 23-yard run, and Hofmann then added a 64-yard jaunt to provide a comfortable cushion before the end of the third quarter.
Half Moon Bay will face Terra Nova, who beat Palma in the other semifinal.
Terra Nova flies past Palma
Terra Nova used great red zone defense and an opportunistic offense to take down Palma in the Open III semifinals, 45-20, scoring the first 21 points to establish early momentum.
Nathan Gordon threw for three touchdown passes, two of them to Scotty Tomei. His second scoring pass to Tomei covered 24 yards, and gave the Tigers a 21-0 lead in the second quarter, after Brandon Auelua had broken off an 80-yard run on the previous possession.
Palma drove deep into Terra Nova territory twice in the first quarter, but came up empty each time.
Sophomore Anthony Villegas got Palma on the board in the second quarter with his 13-yard touchdown run, but Auelua's short run made it 28-7 at the half, and he scored again midway through the third to put the game out of reach.
Gilroy ends 10-year drought
Gilroy got big games from Joseph Barnes and Braulio Rodriguez, as the Mustangs pulled away from Hillsdale, 34-14, to reach the Division V title game.
Barnes ran for 117 yards, including a 60-yard touchdown run, and also threw a 51-yard touchdown to Rodriguez on a fake sweep. Rodriguez also scored on a 53-yard pass from Brandon Weiler to ice the game late.
Christian Rodriguez added 41 yards and two touchdowns for the Mustangs, while Nick Hulman ran for 110 yards, including a 48-yard touchdown for Hillsdale, who also got an interception return for a touchdown early in the game from Joey Sabel.
Reade's big night powers Salinas
Salinas quarterback Brett Reade accounted for five touchdowns, leading the Cowboys to a 43-23 win over Los Gatos in the Open I semifinals.
Reade scored twice on the ground in the first quarter before hitting Jeffery Weimer for a 30-yard score and a 22-0 lead by the end of the first 12 minutes.
Los Gatos quarterback Robert Nelson hit Tyler Williams for a six-yard score to momentarily close the gap, but Reade connected again with Weimer, and capped the first half with a nine-yard run for a 36-7 halftime lead.
Salinas will face Milpitas for the section title.
Anderson carries Leland past Santa Clara
Kyle Anderson ran for 268 yards and three touchdowns, most of it in the first half, as Leland raced to the 52-20 win over Santa Clara in the Division IV semifinals.
Anderson ran for 250 yards and all three scores in the first two quarters, allowing the Chargers to survive a big effort from Santa Clara's Erik Ketton, who ran for 241 yards and all three Bruins' scores.
Ketton's first two scoring runs gave Santa Clara a 13-7 lead in the first quarter, but Leland closed the half with 38 straight points to lead 45-13 at the break. Quarterback Carson Yates added a pair of touchdown runs, and did not attempt a pass during the scoring outburst, while Anderson capped the half with an 81-yard run.