SAN JOSE -- In another classic bout in the WCAL rivalry, all it would take was one final stop.
With under five seconds on the clock, and Mitty down a touchdown with the ball on Bellarmine's 10-yard line, the Monarchs were in position to tie the game and send it to overtime.
Mitty quarterback Phillip Tran scrambled out of the pocket, searching for a man, but was chased out of bounds with no time remaining.
Bellarmine went on to win 28-21, in the only night game played on Archbishop Mitty’s campus all season. It also happened to be Mitty’s senior night, with the entire cheering section on the home side being filled up with families and friends in attendance.
With the win, the Bells move to 6-3 (4-2 WCAL) on the season, while the Monarchs dropped their third straight league game, falling to 4-5 (2-4).
Bellarmine was dominant on the ground all game, as usual. The Bell offense racked up just under 300 total rushing yards, most in credit to their star senior quarterback Ike Ogbogu, who racked up an impressive 136 of those yards.
The most notable stat from his night was the three touchdowns from Ogbogu, all of them coming on the ground. This included one of 37 yards in the second quarter, and another of 65 yards in the third.
“We practiced really well this week, a lot of guys were looking forward to this game,” Ogbogu said. “We really just wanted it more and came out and fought for it.”
Ogbogu only attempted four passes on the night, completing two of them for 20 yards. Senior running back Brendan Manigo also had a superb performance, which isn’t anything new. He rushed for 102 yards on 14 carries with one touchdown. Manigo has been averaging close to 100 yards per game all season and about seven yards per attempt.
“This was all about heart," Manigo said. "We knew what we needed to do, because if we lose any more games, it’ll hurt our chances to make the playoffs. We were high energy all week, and got done what was needed to be done.”
On the defensive side of the ball, Bellarmine came out strong. However, the Monarchs slowly picked up the pace, and were able to keep up just behind the visiting Bells throughout the whole game. Mitty’s offense, led by senior quarterback Phillip Tran, played up to Bell’s style of running the football. Zondre Faraj-Washington was a monster all game, racking up 180 yards on 31 carries. The senior tailback never found the end zone, but each time the Monarchs were in position to score, it was because of Zondre.
“Our line was pushing it, and we just worked together well as a team,” Faraj-Washington said. “We came in thinking we were going to win, but that mindset won’t change after the loss.”
Senior do-it-all Austin Kause also added to Mitty’s rush total, putting up 59 yards on 6 carries with one score. Tran went 14-of-24 for 146 passing yards, along with 59 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns.
That seemed to be the theme of the night: rushing the football. Both teams combined for just under 600 yards on the ground (298 from Bellarmine, 267 from Mitty), with every touchdown being on a run as well. Five out of the seven total rushing touchdowns between both Bellarmine and Mitty came from quarterbacks.
Straight out the gates, Bellarmine looked as though they would literally run away with it. Manigo scored on a punch-in from 3 yards out on the first Bellarmine possession, and Ogbogu followed that up with his 37-yarder up the gut on the very next possession to put the visiting Bells up 14-0 just seven minutes into the game.
“Our offense is run-oriented, but [Ogbogu] is a part of that,” said Bellarmine head coach Michael Janda.
The Bellarmine defense came out strong as well, stifling the Monarchs from getting the ball up the field for most of the first quarter. However, Mitty was able to get its offense going late in the first, with Tran ending an 80-yard drive with a nine-yard sneaker for the score.
Bellarmine then stretched its lead to two touchdowns again, after Ogbogu ran for his second rushing score - this time from 11 yards out – but the Monarchs were able to answer right back with another Tran rushing score, this one being a 2-yard punch-in. The score after two quarters was 21-14 in favor of Bellarmine, after a missed 30-plus yard field goal by Mitty just before the half ended.
The Bells came out in the second half hot again, with Ogbogu sprinting to the right side of the field for a huge 65-yard rushing touchdown just a minute into the third quarter. Mitty then turned over the ball on their own 28-yard line on a muffed snap, but were able save it from doing them any damage when senior defensive lineman Blake Rose blocked a short field goal attempt by the Bells.
Mitty used the next possession to set up another chance in the redzone, where Kause scrambled his way for a 17-yard rush to put the Monarchs within one score once again with two minutes to go in the third. Heading into the fourth, it looked as though Mitty was going to find a way to even the score, but with a punt, a turnover on downs, and a final failed effort to score with the final seconds ticking down, a scoreless fourth quarter between both teams resulted in the Bellarmine victory.
“Every second of the game was in doubt, because of the way Mitty played,” said Coach Janda.“We had to gut it up, and make one last play in the end. Thank God we did!”
After the win, Bellarmine looks to close out WCAL play strong, as they travel to the city to face the league-leading Serra Padres next Saturday at 2 pm. The Monarchs hope to end their losing streak as they travel up to the city as well, to play the Archbishop Riordan Crusaders on Saturday.
Riordan has failed to win a WCAL game all season, something Mitty will try to take advantage of, so they can close out their campaign strongly as well.
“We gave 100%,” said Tran after the tough loss. “The most important thing is to shake off all the losses. Those are in the past. We have a chance to do something special down the road.”
