On a rainy, blustery evening at San Jose City College, the Bellarmine Bells defeated the Terra Nova Tigers in the quarterfinals of the CCS Open Division playoffs by a final score of 33-14. The Bells (10-1), who were coming off a 42-13 blowout win last week against Sacred Heart Cathedral, now face WCAL rival Serra in the Open semifinals next weekend, while the season is over for the PAL-Bay champion Tigers (6-5).
The first score of the game was set up by a blocked punt by the Bells that was recovered on the Terra Nova nine-yard line. Olugbode finished the drive off with an eight-yard run to put the Bells ahead 7-0 midway through the first quarter.
Like they have done all year, the Bells put together another steady drive on the ground toward the end of the first quarter. The drive was capped off with quarterback K.J. Carta-Samuels hooking up with receiver Jared Vallner for a 36-yard touchdown to put the Bells ahead 14-0 with 11:37 left in the second quarter.
The ball was fumbled multiple times throughout the night in the wet, cold weather. Quarterback K’ren Spain coughed the ball up midway through the second quarter, recovered by Bellarmine linebacker Domenic Luca. A couple possessions later, the Bells’ Olugbode fumbled and the ball was recovered by Terra Nova on the Bellarmine 45-yard line.
The Tigers took advantage of the Bellarmine mishap and put together a five-play drive with Spain (120 yards passing, 59 yards rushing, 2 total TDs) running 14 yards to pull the Tigers a little closer to the Bells 14-7.
“You saw a lot of fumbles and a lot of the time, we were getting stopped," Sanfilippo said. "We need to play on their side of the field more and hold onto the ball.”
Nearing halftime, Terra Nova punted to speedy returner Sanfilippo, who found the blocks and ran 88 yards to give Bellarmine a 21-7 lead at halftime.
At the start of the second half, heavy rain began, but that didn’t stop the Bells’ potent attack. On the first play of the drive, Olugbode used his linemen to his advantage and scored a 73-yard rushing touchdown to give Bellarmine a comfortable lead of 27-7.
Another fumble by Bellarmine gave Terra Nova the ball on the Bells’ 24-yard line. Spain found Jaylen Jones in the flat for an eight-yard touchdown reception to put the score at 27-14 with 3:40 left in the third quarter.
However, the Bells crushed the Tigers' hopes with a 12-play drive - all on the ground - with Carta-Samuels scoring from one-yard out to give Bellarmine a commanding 33-14 lead. Still, the Bells know they will need to play better to defeat Serra again.
“In practice, we’re looking to work on blocking and tackling. When you look at football, that’s all it is, and that’s what we need," Olugbode said. "Next week, we know it’s coming and they know it’s coming. It’s all about who can stop who.”
Terra Nova tried to pull its way back into the game, but all hopes were lost when Bells’ cornerback Vallner picked off a Spain pass to seal the victory.
“(Against Terra Nova) we could have come out a lot faster. Especially against good teams, it’s important to start fast because you never what they are going to do," Vallner said. "We already played Serra once and it was a tough game. It was a tough game the first time and it’s going to be a tough game the second time.”
Bellarmine will look ahead to next week with a Friday or Saturday night matchup against Serra at Independence High School. Bellarmine eked out a 35-34 victory in overtime in the previous matchup this year.
