To say the West Catholic Athletic League season finale match-up on Saturday afternoon in the Sunset District of San Francisco is a huge game for both Prep2Prep CIF Central Coast Section top-ranked and visiting Serra-San Mateo (9-0, 6-0), and host and new P2P CCS No. 6 St. Ignatius (7-2, 5-1), could be considered a bit of an understatement.
For Serra it could be something that has never happened in the 73-year history of the school, a 10-0 season. The Padres went 9-0 in 1954 in the old Catholic Athletic League, their last unbeaten regular season campaign, but unlike now where there are CCS and state CIF playoffs, there were no playoffs back in those days.
With Serra in sole possession of first place in the West Catholic Athletic League a win over St. Ignatius would mean Coach Patrick Walsh and his Padres will have captured a second outright league title in three years. If St. Ignatius wins they will share the WCAL title with Serra, and also with Valley Christian as well if the Warriors beat an Archbishop Mitty-San Jose team St. Ignatius polished off 21-7 last week at Foothill College.
Since St. Ignatius left the Academic Athletic Association and joined what was changed from the CAL to the WCAL in 1967, they had early success as the Wildcats won the inaugural 1967 league title with NFL Hall of Fame quarterback Dan Fouts under center, but they didn’t win a championship again until sharing the crown with Serra in 2006, and in recent years the going has been rough. The last time St. Ignatius even had a winning record in league was 5-2 and a tie with Serra for second place in 2012 when Coach John Regalia was in his second season at the Wildcats helm.
Both teams are feeling the pressure but under the circumstances of the combination of the huge win over Valley Christian coupled with the potential of making school history has some concerns from Walsh.
“Our goal this year was to be a tough organization,” Walsh remarked. “Each week we talk about the obstacles we face as a community that will challenge our toughness, and this week one-hundred percent we talked about a letdown. We aren’t going to hide from our weaknesses or try to avoid the inevitable truths of this week.”
“The main truth being a natural letdown after a difficult and emotional week,” continued Walsh. “I am extremely fearful of underachievement and there are a myriad of reasons as to why we could underachieve or let down this weekend. We discussed all those reasons in depth. I’d rather have us face our demons than shy away from them.”
The big question last week was would sophomore quarterback Dominique Lampkin, who has replaced injured starter and D1 recruit Daylin McLemore, answer the bell in the Padres showdown with Valley Christian. The answer is although the 5-11, 170-pound Lampkin made a couple of mistakes and didn’t have spectacular numbers against a very tough Warriors defense, he got the job done in the Padres 10-0 victory.
Serra didn’t put up astronomical rushing numbers against Valley Christian but they moved the ball better than the Warriors with blocking up front and further won the battle in the trenches behind two of five sacks by 6-6, 250-pound defensive end Nusi Malani.
Look for senior Jackson Lataimua, who this week committed to Washington State and had the lone TD against Valley Christian, plus senior running back Nate Sanchez, junior Vince Poni, and sophomore Hassan Mahasin, to help Lampkin carry the load against a St. Ignatius team that had its moments at the line of scrimmage in a 17-7 home loss to Valley Christian in early October.
Last week, in a battle of backup quarterbacks, it was Wildcats senior dual-threat quarterback Zach Taylor-Smith, the starter at the end of last year that got the job done. He was replacing UC- Davis-committed senior Teddye Buchanan, a two-way player at linebacker that was nursing a lower body injury.
Whether this week will be another battle of backups is a question since it not known if Buchanan will play, but either way this is shaping up like another game that will be decided in the trenches.
Walsh has some concerns here as well.
“This is the best SI team I have seen,” Walsh said. “They are extremely well-coached and up front they went toe-to-toe with Valley Christian and St. Francis. “We expect SI’s very best and if we show up with hubris and false expectations we will be in for a long afternoon in the Sunset.”
When asked what it will take to put an end to the Serra winning streak and earn his Wildcats a share of the WCAL title, Regalia was short, sweet and to the point.
“Take care of the ball, stay within ourselves and execute,” Regalia responded. “Our focus has been within each week this season. This week has been no different.”
Maybe so, but it’s been 19-years since St. Ignatius got a share of a WCAL title and for Serra the game has historic implications.
On that note Walsh had some additional concerns.
“Yes, they are aware of that,” when Walsh was asked if the players knew about the potential 10-0 school record. “That would seem to be a natural motivator but I think it is another obstacle to being our best selves on Saturday. We have never been a scoreboard driven team, but this looming reality could skew or focus from executing our mission and lead us into an ego trap that will hurt our team.”
If all that is not enough to make this game huge, a win by St. Ignatius should it create a three-way tie for the WCAL crown, will make the CIF Central Coast Section Open Division seedings very interesting. Serra would still seem to have the inside track for the top seed.
