SANTA ROSA, CA – The distractions of ESPN continuing to shadow the team and the more than the usual Bay Area news media still showing up at games may have had an effect on what was not a picture perfect performance.
However, even so, host Cardinal Newman bolted out to a 14-0 early lead, led 28-6 in the second quarter, 35-12 after three quarters, and then 49-20 midway through the fourth quarter before Cardinals Coach Paul Cronin emptied the bench in a North Coast Section Division III quarterfinal 49-32 victory on Friday night at Santa Rosa Junior College that wasn’t really as close as the score indicates.
The Cardinal Newman senior duo of running back Tanner Mendoza and quarterback Beau Barrington made up for any negatives and accounted for most of the offense.
Mendoza had 19 carries for 115 yards and three touchdowns, all in the first half. Barrington, who is shadowed by ESPN et al more than any other player because not only is he one of the players that lost his home in the fires, but he’s the quarterback. The 6-1, 185-pound Barrington rushed for 112 yards on 13 carries with two TDs, and although he only threw five passes, he completed four for 126 yards and one TD, a 57-yard pass to another player whose family lost its home, senior wide receiver Nikko Kitchen.
It was the Barrington to Kitchen scoring strike that made it 35-12 Cardinals and pretty much sealed the deal, although Encinal quarterback Theori Oliver fought to the end and orchestrated 20 fourth quarter points, but by then Cronin had already put in the second and third stringers against a Jets team that came into the game undefeated.
“At times early on we were trying too hard instead of letting the game come to us,” Cronin said.
“Their quarterback was very good but we didn’t tackle well and there were a lot of big plays that went their way; and then there are the onside kicks we didn’t recover,” continued Cronin.
Encinal attempted three onsides kicks and recovered two with the final one leading to the Jets last touchdown. One of their touchdowns was on special teams.
North Bay League champion and second-seeded Cardinal Newman (9-2) had a shaky start with penalties on its first two plays but still went 55-yards in nine plays culminating in a 5-yard run by Mendoza that gave the Cardinals a 7-0 lead.
Oliver then fumbled on the first play from scrimmage by Encinal and Newman junior linebacker Nick Wall, who would later have a sack in the game, recovered at the Jets 29 yard line. Four plays later it was Mendoza again pounding his way into the end zone on a 2-yard run to give a 14-0 Newman lead.
Encinal answered back when Oliver scored on an 18-yard run but the 2-point conversion failed and it was 14-6 Newman. Encinal recovered the first of three onside kicks, but after getting to the Newman 14 yard line they turned it over on downs.
From there Barrington and Mendoza went to work. Barrington ran for 23 yards, and then completed a 28-yard pass to Kitchen. After two short carries by Mendoza and two penalties on Encinal, Mendoza bulled his way to pay dirt again from 10-yard out and the Cardinals were up 21-6. After the Cardinal Newman defense forced a three-and-out, Barrington orchestrated a 5-play, 53-yard drive that included a 42-yard pass to Kyle Carinalli, and ended when Barrington scored on a 3-yard keeper to give the Cardinals their 28-6 lead.
West Alameda League – Shoreline champion and Encinal (11-1) wasted no time scoring when sophomore Teddy Oliver took the ensuing kickoff 84-yards for a TD to close the Neman lead to 28-12 at halftime.
Encinal got the ball to start the second half, but after going only 18-yards in 11 plays that included a 16-yard holding penalty, and two fourth down conversions in a strange drive that ran five minutes off the clock, the Jets had to punt.
After a short run by Mendoza, Barrington hit Kitchen on the 57-yarder that gave Newman a 23-point lead midway through the third quarter.
No quit Encinal then mounted its best drive of the game and it came when Cronin still had his starters in the game. Quarterback Oliver was at his best during the 15-play, 76-yard drive that saw the 6-1, 205-pound senior rush four times and pass nine times with the last an 11-yard TD to Taj Banks Jr. Teddy Oliver ran in the 2-point conversion to cut Newman’s lead to 15 points with 11:52 remaining to play.
With what he’s faced off the field the fact that on the field Encinal closed the gap a bit didn’t faze Barrington. Encinal tried another onside kick but Newman recovered this one at the Jets 48. After Barrington had two 4-yard runs to get it to the 40, he broke free on the third play of the drive and bolted past defenders for a 40-yard TD run that gave Newman a 42-20 lead with 10:26 left.
The defense held again and senior wide receiver Jason Moran scored Newman’s last touchdown on an 11-yard end around that upped the lead to 29 points with less than six minutes left.
Quarterback Oliver scored his second rushing touchdown and then after Encinal recovered the second onside kick and when Oliver looked like he might be sacked to end the game he pitched it to Kanden Robinson Jr. who scored with 49 seconds left. From there Newman took a knee.
Oliver finished 19 of 26 passing for 146 yards and the one TD and he rushed for 144 yards on 29 carries with the two additional scores.
“We need to be cleaner but overall we played aggressive,” Barrington remarked. “The line blocked fantastic tonight, Coach Cronin came up with a great scheme earlier in the week and Tanner (Mendoza) was an animal as he always is.”
Cardinal Newman will now face the winner of the Saturday night Eureka at Rancho Cotate game in Rohnert Park. Should the host Cougars win it would set up a rubber match between Newman and their North Bay League arch rivals in the semifinals. Rancho Cotate was as 41-28 winner in a non-league Monday night game arranged to ease tensions caused by the fires, but Newman won when it really counted until now with a regular season ending 34-27 victory that gave them the NBL title.
Whether or not it’s Rancho Cotate or Eureka facing Newman next week it’s a cinch ESPN and all the other media including Prep2Prep will be on hand to cover the action.
