ORINDA - The game was far from over when Miramonte went into halftime trailing Stellar Prep by four points, and it was far from over when the Matadors trailed by 20 points midway through the third quarter. Instead, Miramonte reeled off a string of 28 straight points and then scored in the final two minutes of a back-and-forth barn-burner to defeat Stellar Prep 62-54 on Thursday night.
Miramonte quarterback Matt Meredith hit junior running back Aidan Browne in the right flat after Stellar Prep had tied the game at 54-all, with under two minutes remaining. Browne did the rest, dashing 76 yards down the right sideline for the game-winning score, an improbable finish for a team which had trailed 40-20 earlier in the game.
"We couldn't run the ball and we couldn't play defense. We have been struggling on special teams as well, but we can sure throw the ball right now," said Miramonte coach Jack Schram. "We scored on the same play (to Browne) earlier in the game, and we knew they would probably blitz the linebackers again, leaving a safety to try and cover him out of the backfield. The safety tried to get there, but he beat him to the sideline after the catch."
It was the final passing touchdown of the night for Meredith, and what a night it was for the senior who has now started all of eight games at quarterback. One week after accounting for six total touchdowns in a win over Fortuna, Meredith completed 23-of-34 passes for 441 yards and nine touchdowns, with no interceptions. It has been confirmed by Cal-Hi Sports editor Mark Tennis, who keeps single-game records for the state and all sections, that the nine passing touchdowns by Meredith is a single-game NCS record. Meredith's mark surpasses the previous record of eight held by David Barr of Concord (1989), Noah Davis of St. Bernard's (2014), Kaylor Sullivan of Fort Bragg (2015) and TJ Campbell (2017).
Browne had five catches for 121 yards and the two scores, while Tanner Zwahlen had eight catches for 179 yards and three touchdowns.
After Stellar Prep (1-2) led 24-20 at halftime, the visiting Thunder scored the first 16 points of the second half to take a 20-point lead. But Meredith hit Zwahlen on a slant for a five-yard touchdown, cutting the lead to 40-27 and also setting the stage for an incredulous sequence of special teams and offensive plays for the Matadors. Miramonte recovered an onside kick following the touchdown, and Meredith followed with a touchdown pass to Sam Ross from 10 yards out, cutting the lead to 40-34 with 1:09 left in the third quarter.
The Matadors then recovered yet another onside kick, and Meredith converted by hitting Peter Reeves for a 15-yard touchdown pass. That gave Miramonte (2-1) a 41-40 lead with just over nine minutes left to play, and having scored 21 points while Stellar Prep's offense stood on the sideline and watched. Meanwhile, the onside kicks were effective but had come into play based on earlier special teams' struggles for the Matadors.
"We weren't stopping them, so that first drive after we trailed by 20 and then the onside kicks were key, since we didn't have to try and stop them," Schram added. "But we went to all onside kicks because when we kicked deep in the first half, they returned it for a touchdown."
Miramonte also had a punt blocked earlier in the game, which was also returned for a touchdown. With all that in mind, the onside kicks continued to come and continued to benefit the Matadors, leading to a 28-yard touchdown pass for a 48-40 lead before Stellar Prep found its footing again. When the Thunder got the ball back, they tied the score at 48 with 6:26 left in the game, but Miramonte responded with a 61-yard touchdown pass from Meredith to Jameson Braitberg for a 54-48 lead.
The Thunder refused to wilt, tying the game again with 2:08 left before the final score from Meredith to Browne.
Stellar Prep heads to Tennessee next week, facing McCallie-Chattanooga, while Miramonte takes on Brookside Christian-Stockton, in a game being played at St. Mary's.
