ROHNERT PARK, CA – The question posed in the weekly Behind the Redwood Curtain feature was re-visited on the pregame show hosted by Tag Wotherspoon for KATA 1340 AM, and 92.7 FM the local ESPN Radio affiliate in Eureka.
Could No. 2 seed St. Bernard’s be the team that could beat top-seeded Cardinal Newman in the CIF North Coast Section Division IV playoffs? The answer very definitively is no.
Cardinal Newman (12-1) spotted the visiting team from up north a 6-0 lead and then scored 44-straight points to win 44-21 in a running clock fourth quarter. With the victory Cardinal Newman has now won 11 CIFNCS titles.
The bottom line is two-fold. First, the score is not indicative of the Cardinals’ dominance. Second, the numbers are skewed because a huge amount of the Crusaders offense came during the running clock and against Newman reserves.
Cardinals quarterback Jordon Brookshire passed for 182 yards and three touchdowns and rushed for 73 yards and three more scores. Just like everyone including a CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Division I champion St. Mary’s could not stop Brookshire from finding the end zone, neither could St. Bernard’s
St. Bernard's (12-2) got 224 yards passing and three touchdowns from Jack Rice but two of the TDs and 117 of the passing yards came against subs and a running clock. Rice also ran for 76 yards but never found paydirt and he was sacked three times and fumbled twice, once on his own 28 yard line and once on a backward pass that went awry.
“Jordon has just been at another level but the real positives in this game were our D-line played great and overall we got a great pass rush,” said Newman Coach Paul Cronin. “Our wide receivers made some big plays as well.”
Defensively Irvin Mann had two sacks and Wyatt Darien had a sack that forced the Rice fumble that was recovered by Jalen Dural. Joey DiMarco, a 6-0, 290-pound two-way lineman that resembles a stone wall, dominated in the trenches.
Wide receiver Damien Wallace got loose for a 33-yard TD reception and wide receiver Kyle Carinalli had a 33-yarder himself, but the slickest reception was by Chauncey LeBerthon. It was obvious the he was the go-to guy when he had isolated man coverage by a St. Bernard’s defensive back that was shaking his fingers either in fear or trying to distract LeBerthon. The sophomore wideout left the defender flat-footed with two fakes and hauled in a 43-yard pass from Brookshire that gave Newman a 44-6 lead with 4:57 left to play.
Cardinal Newman now advances to its third Northern Regional Bowl Game appearance. The Cardinals were placed very high by the CIF and will travel to San Jose as the lower ranked team in the 2-AA Division where they play CIF Central Coast Section Open 3 winner Valley Christian on Friday night.
The last time Newman played in a Bowl Game was in 2008 when they beat Campolindo-Moraga 38-28 in the CIFNCS D3 title game, and then defeated Clayton Valley-Concord 17-7 in the Northern Regional old format D3 Bowl Game, but lost in the CIF D3 Bowl Game 28-6 to St. Bonaventure-Ventura.
