HALF MOON BAY, CA - Half Moon Bay isn’t just a tourist town.
Sure, there were people who drove more than three hours for Saturday’s Northern California 3-A Championship Game, but the folks who made that trek from Sutter certainly weren’t heading home happy.
They may have had a nice meal, or enjoyed the scenery, but those visitors didn’t fulfill the main purpose of their trek, because when it gets down to it, those Half Moon Bay Cougars just know how to win.
Half Moon Bay’s offense had just one play of more than 15 yards on the night and fumbled twice, but the defense and special teams did more than enough for a comfortable 28-7 win over the Sutter Huskies to advance to next weekend’s Division 3-A State Championship at Steele Canyon (San Diego County).
The Cougars made two red zone stops and recovered a pair of fumbles, downed a punt at the 1 and blocked two kicks, all part of a comfortable win on a memorable night in front of an overflow crowd at John Francis Field.
Even with do-it-all kicker, punter, wide receiver and defensive back Dylan Williams limited by injuries, Half Moon Bay’s special teams showcased its depth. Sean Fitzgerald drilled two extra points, sent one kickoff inside the 5 and sent the other into the end zone for a touchback, while Gavin Tomberlin nearly matched Williams’ excellent punt with a 56-yard kick.
Tomberlin completed 6 of 9 passes for 94 yards, including the one big play of the night for the Cougars, a 45-yard connection with Jake Quosig on a seam route for the first score of the game.
Other than that, it was quieter night than usual for the Cougar offense, but Half Moon Bay (14-0) still did more than enough with the same recipe that’s worked all year. Four yards here, three yards there, five yards on the next play. In doing so, the Cougars managed to control the pace of the game and protect the lead, with the defense and special teams units taking care of the big plays.
Sutter (12-2) had a chance to tie the game in the first quarter after the rarest of mistakes by Half Moon Bay, Chase Hofmann’s second fumble of the year. Jojo Weinberger scooped up a Sutter fumble two plays later, paving the way for a methodical 12-play, 65-yard drive to make it 14-0 less than a minute into the second quarter on Hofmann’s 7-yard touchdown.
Though there was no more scoring to be seen in the first half, there was an abundance of drama. A Sutter drive of nearly six minutes stalled when a pass on third-and-goal was dropped by a wide-open receiver, and Hofmann more than made up for his fumble by blocking the 23-yard field goal try to keep the score at 14-0.
Williams’ 60-yard punt, aided by wind, a great bounce and a Herculean effort by the coverage team to down the ball before the goal line, pinned Sutter at the 1 with just 1:34 left in the first half, but the Huskies wouldn’t be deterred. Runs of 14 and 15 yards by Trever Facey got the offense rolling, and Sutter got all the way to the HMB 30 with seven seconds left in the half. Rather than throw for the end zone, the Huskies dialed up a phenomenal draw play, but Hayden Von Almen made a touchdown-saving tackle at the 3 as time expired. Sutter went 96 yards and failed to score.
The start of the second half felt like a repeat of the first, with the teams trading fumbles in the first three minutes. The Huskies fumbled at their own 18 and a blowout looked imminent after Hofmann got HMB down to the 1-yard line. Sutter got stops on the following two plays and picked up a fumble on third down, giving the Huskies a new lease on life.
Just like when they fumbled in the first half, the Cougars responded immediately. This time, it was by forcing a three-and-out and then blocking the punt, with Hayden Von Almen breaking through the line to get his hands on the kick. Two plays later, Hofmann’s 4-yard run made it 21-0.
Sutter’s offense finally pieced it together at that point, but it was far too late for the Huskies. Facey rattled off a 31-yard run to open the drive and bookended the possession with a 4-yard touchdown run, but after trading three-and-outs, Half Moon Bay embarked on the drive that would ultimately put the game away.
Tomberlin connected with Von Almen on a pair of fourth-down conversions and ultimately plunged into the end zone on a 3-yard run to make it 28-7, capping off a 10-play drive to bridge the third and fourth quarters.
The rest was academic. Sutter ultimately outgained the host Cougars 336-235, but a bend-but-don’t-break defense made the difference and advanced Half Moon Bay to a state title game.
Tomberlin and Von Almen had their fingerprints all over the win, but they were far from the only ones to step up. It was a team effort, with Jake Quosig pitching in on both sides of the ball, Fitzgerald making his presence felt on both defense and special teams, and Bobby Lester with multiple plays in the backfield for the Cougar defense.
Facey finished his career on a high note for Sutter, with 190 yards on 25 carries, and Joe Kunkle (14 carries-79 yards) went out on a high note for the Huskies as well.
