LOS ALTOS HILLS, CA -- In a battle between two teams struggling to gain momentum in WCAL competition, the Archbishop Mitty Monarchs were the ones to come out on top. Their 38-14 win over the St. Ignatius Wildcats last night at Foothill College was Mitty’s first victory since their stunning defeat of Bellarmine three weeks before.
Sam Serra was all over the place for the Monarchs, racking up 58 yards on 6 of 9 passing and 51 rushing yards, including two touchdowns using his legs.
“We knew we had to come out and fight. We put ourselves in a position to succeed, and I have to give it to my linemen. They did their job as always and we had a good game plan coming into the game,” said Serra after the win.
Mitty was in control from the start, scoring 35 unanswered points in the first three quarters. Two of their four first half touchdowns came from a blocked punt and a pick six. Standout fullback Matt Tofano did his job also on the defensive side of play, snagging a Lietz pass and returning it 28 yards for a first quarter score. Sophomore linebacker Nick Alftin blocked a Wildcat punt just a few possessions later, and ran it 25 yards back for another Monarch touchdown. Two more rushing touchdowns gave the Monarchs a 28-0 lead at half, one coming from Serra and another from junior Austin Kause. Kause gained 36 yards on eight carries for the day, including that first half score.
As for the Wildcats, they struggled on offense for most of the game. To start the game, they had four straight three-and-outs, including just four first downs. Coach John Regalia of the Wildcats switched between quarterbacks Caelen Kietz and Peter Katz multiple times, trying to find a rhythm to climb out of their hole.
“Mitty’s a good team. They’re really well coached and I thought they played faster (than us). They got off the ball well and executed well. It took us a while to get going and find our rhythm,” said Regalia. The Wildcats did put up two late touchdowns on a couple impressive throws by Lietz and Katz, but it was all too late in the end. “Our guys did a good job of regrouping at halftime. We made some adjustments and tried to gather ourselves and battled it out in the second half.”
Lietz was 8 of 22 for 74 yards with three interceptions and a touchdown throw, while Katz was 8 of 11 for 108 yards, including a 48 yard fourth quarter bomb to wideout Remo Tocchini.
The Wildcats did a much better job in the second half; in fact they outgained and outscored the Monarchs 14-10. However, the offensive and defensive show displayed by Mitty in the first 2 2/2 quarters was all too much. St. Ignatius dropped to 1-7, 1-4.
“Everybody’s a tough opponent," Mitty coach Keith Burns said. "They (SI) played a close game against St. Francis earlier in the season. We played well tonight, in special teams, offense and defense. We got back to playing football that we have been playing for most of the season.”
The win stops Mitty’s two-game skid, in which they had only scored seven points in each game. Friday night, it racked up its highest total points since mid-September. Sam Serra had only marginal success in both those starts during the skid, but came out tonight to exert an all-around strong performance.
“Serra played great, he’s my guy, and he’s the leader of this football team. You gotta trust and believe in him,” Burns said.
Defensively, senior back Justin Collier came up with back-to-back interceptions off of Lietz in the fourth quarter.
“We were in coverage, I just read the quarterback’s eyes. We just needed to seal the game out. They're a good opponent, and we needed a big play at the end,” Collier said.
The two picks gave the Monarchs some insurance, which included a 23 yard field goal to push their lead to 38-7 late in the fourth quarter. The 48-yard bomb from Katz to Tocchini with three minutes to play gave the Wildcats some momentum, but that’d be the last they’d get
The rest of year will be tough for both Mitty and SI, with each school playing against top-notch teams. St. Ignatius will have to play their best to gain a victory over Bellarmine or Serra, both high-powered offensive teams.
“Our league is a great league; we love being in it, our guys love being in it. Every week is a great challenge for us. Like Mitty, this week, our next challenge will be in front of us before we know it. It’s just about getting after it and going,” said Regalia.
As for the Monarchs, perhaps their biggest game of the year is next week against St. Francis at home Friday night. It’s their annual “Under the Lights Game” as it’s the only game of the season where they play at night on their own campus. “We’re gonna enjoy this tonight ... then we’ll start worrying about them (St. Francis) on Monday. They got a great football team. They beat us twice last year, fair-and-square. They’re outstanding and they’re really well coached, we’ll give it all we got,” Burns said.
