It’s unusual to see even one freshman starting at quarterback in the West Catholic Athletic League, let alone two in the same game.
But both Serra and St. Ignatius rode with youngsters when they met at Brady Family Stadium in San Mateo on Saturday afternoon. And while the Padres rolled to a 45-10 victory, the Wildcats have to be happy with the way Isaac Liu played in his first varsity start.
Seniors Bobby Gomez and Caedon Arifsharipour had both seen time behind center for SI, but Wildcats head coach JaJuan Lawson said Liu is his starter going forward after the freshman completed 22 of 35 passes for 235 yards, a touchdown and an interception against Serra’s outstanding defense.
“He had been the best at protecting the football and operating the offense, and he showed it,” Lawson said. “The problem is, we were just playing at a deficit too often. For him, we made a decision that he gave us the best chance to win right now.”
SI (1-4, 0-2 WCAL) was trailing by the time its offense first stepped on the field, and the Wildcats could never dig out of their early hole. Led by their own freshman quarterback, William Orr, the Padres (2-3, 2-0) marched down the field on their opening drive. Orr converted a fourth down on a quarterback draw, then fit a ball in a tight window to Jace Cannon to move Serra inside the 10-yard line.
Andrew Takapautolo paide it off with a four-yard touchdown run to put the Padres in front and set the tone for the rest of the game.
“We’ve had two great practice weeks,” Serra head coach Patrick Walsh said. “We obviously had our issues the first three weeks of the year, got to that bye week licking our wounds and tried to determine what path we wanted to take. I was really proud the last two weeks, our practices have been the best weeks of the year.”
The Padres dominated all three phases of the game in the first half. Their defense forced an SI punt after one first down after a Dylan Modena tackle for loss on third down, and Malakai Taufoou blocked the punt, giving Serra the ball in the red zone. Two plays later, Iziah Singleton took a pitch five yards for another touchdown to double the hosts’ lead.
Singleton rushed for 120 yards and two touchdowns on 12 carries, the first two times he has found the end zone this year.
“Every time I got the ball, the line, they helped me out,” Singleton said. “I was able to get there and get through (the holes). The outcome showed it.”
Serra added to the lead on a 52-yard field goal by five-star senior kicker Saul Marks early in the second quarter, then all but put things out of reach when Cornell James returned an interception 59 yards for another touchdown. A screen pass from junior quarterback Caleb Bandel to Charles Walsh turned into a 30-yard touchdown, extending the lead to 31-0.
The Wildcats took more than seven minutes off the clock on their first sustained drive of the game but stalled out in the red zone, settling for a 36-yard Thomas McKeon field goal. SI did find the end zone in the third quarter, capping a 12-play, 80-yard drive on a 22-yard pass from Liu to Zui Shelton.
But pre-snap penalties were costly for the Wildcats all afternoon. SI committed eight false starts, including two on third down and one on fourth down. The Padres mixed up their pressure packages and used a variety of line stunts, forcing the Wildcats to flinch several times.
“They do a lot of shifting and moving pre-snap,” Lawson said. “We were prepped for it all week, and we just didn’t execute. As coaches, we can do everything we can to get them right, but we just have to hold our water. We’re going to try and help them, but we can’t play the game for them. It’s back to the drawing board. We have to get better from there.”
Singleton and Takapautolo each scored a second rushing touchdown in the fourth quarter as Serra pulled away, necessitating a running clock for the last four-plus minutes.
The Padres will look to stay unbeaten in WCAL play next week at Sacred Heart Cathedral, while SI seeks its first league win when it visits undefeated Riordan.
“We have to keep building on what we’re doing. We’re starting to put a lot more energy into our craft,” Walsh said. “When you go 0-3, the scoreboard makes you feel horrible, but now they’re starting to feel some life, get some confidence, and confidence can be a dangerous thing.”
[bold\Mountain View outlasts Carlmont in PAL De Anza opener
The Spartans snapped a three-game skid and allowed fewer than 40 points for the first time all season in a 35-28 victory over the Scots in both teams’ league opener.
Trailing by a touchdown heading into the fourth quarter, Mountain View (2-3, 1-0 PAL De Anza) scored 21 unanswered points to take control. Carlmont was down seven with less than four minutes remaining but drove inside the Spartans’ 10-yard line before an interception derailed the Scots. Dom Kristof’s 50-yard run then put the game away.
Carlmont (1-4, 0-1) rallied back from an early 14-point deficit as Brody Zirelli threw three touchdown passes and wide receiver Lucas Robertson threw one of his own on a trick play. But in the end, the Scots could not slow down Mountain View’s running game, led by the two-headed monster of Sam Ford and Kristof.
The Scots will try to end a four-game losing streak at home against Capuchino next week, while the Spartans host San Mateo.
