SAN JOSE - Serra’s Ian Schwaab’s second-quarter interception off a tipped pass deep in Mitty territory led to a touchdown and broke open a close game setting up a 41-14 victory Saturday afternoon.
“We did what we needed to do; this was a collective effort,” said Serra running back Isiah Kendrick.
The interception on the Mitty 22-yard line led directly to a touchdown pass from Luke Bottari to Charles Quinn.
Soon after Quinn’s touchdown grab, which increased Serra’s lead to 20-7, Mitty (4-4, 2-3 WCAL) was intercepted again, as Davis Vakalahi picked the ball off at the line of scrimmage, giving Serra the ball in excellemt field position once again.
Bottari capitalized once more, with a 32-yard touchdown strike to a streaking Quinn.
A back-and-forth game, which featured back-to-back scores from the teams, shifted into a dominating effort by the Padres (4-4, 4-1).
Mitty’s defense soon succumbed to another Serra touchdown, as TC Lavulo ran in a two-yard score after a long drive.
The Monarch offense responded, as Zondre Farajwashington ran in a 12-yard touchdown off of a fumbled snap, to decrease the deficit to 27-14.
However, in the final minute of the half, Serra quickly drove down the field, as Kendrick scored from two yards out to end the half at 34-14.
Serra maintained its stifling defense into the second half, as Jovon Johnson picked off Mitty near midfield, for Serra’s third takeaway of the game.
And as with the previous takeaways, Serra capitalized, as Kendrick ran it in from near midfield to end the scoring at 41-14. The Serra defense finished the job, shutting out the Monarchs in the second half.
"It felt good to get the win," Kendrick said. "We just got to keep working hard, and we’ll do great as the season ends.”
