SAN JOSE - On a cool night in front of a large crowd at Independence high school, the Serra Padres defeated the Bellarmine Bells 28-17 in the CCS Open Division semifinals.
It was Serra's second victory against Bellarmine this season. The Padres also defeated the Bells 17-7 in the West Catholic Athletic League opener.
The Serra defense stepped to the fore in the second half and didn’t allow Bellarmine (8-4) to score, while quarterback Matt Fa’aita led the Padres on two scoring drives in the second half to put the Bells away.
“The defense stepped it up in the second half,” said Serra coach Patrick Walsh, “This is a classic Serra versus Bellarmine football game, it’s always an instant classic.”
To start off the game, Bellarmine fumbled and Serra returned the ball to the Bellarmine 6-yard line. Then a few moments later Fa’aita ran it in from 6 yards out to put the Padres up 7-0 with 9:16 left in the first quarter.
Bellarmine quarterback K.J. Carta-Samuels then drove his team downfield, leading to a Bell field goal, trimming Serra's lead to 7-3 late in the first quarter.
On the ensuing possession, Kava Cassidy, coming off a five-touchdown performance, punched it in from five yards out to put the Padres up 14-3.
Bellarmine’s offense then scored 14 un-answered points on a 3-yard run by Carta-Samuels and a 21-yard pass from Carta-Samuels to tight end Josh Bringuel. Bringuel's score came after Serra muffed the kickoff following Carta-Samuel's TD run. Bellarmine took a 17-14 lead into halftime, but didn't score again.
Late in the third quarter Matt Fa’aita capped off a Serra drive with a 1-yard touchdown run which gave the Padres a 21-17 lead.
The Padres (10-2) scored again on a Cassidy 5-yard run, to take an 11-point lead it never relinquished.
“We remember what happened last year in CCS, we didn’t want that to happen again,” Cassidy said.
Last year Serra met Bellarmine in the CCS semifinals and were eliminated by a Bellarmine defensive stand near the goal line.
“They are a very good team,” said Bellarmine coach Mike Janda of Serra. "(We) were ready to play, and played hard.”
Serra now moves on to play Archbishop Mitty in the CCS Open Division final on Friday at San Jose City College. It will be Serra's first appearance in the Open title game.
