In a game delayed by gunshots, Serra edges St. Francis for the CCS DI championship
CAMPBELL >> A little before 9 p.m. Friday, Serra quarterback Dominique Lampkin ran across the goal line for the go-ahead touchdown in a 16-12 victory over St. Francis.
The Padres followed with a two-point try that failed.
There were just over two minutes left in a thrilling Central Coast Section Division I championship game between league rivals at Westmont High.
Then things got scary. Uneasiness from the sounds of gunshots sent some terrified fans in a stadium packed with more than 5,000 spectators running for cover. St. Francis players hit the deck on the sideline. Numerous Serra players ran off the field and up an embankment, until their coach, Patrick Walsh, told them it was safer to remain in the stadium.
“It was chaotic,” Walsh said.
The gunshots were heard shortly before Lampkin scored on a 3-yard run with 2:18 left. But it wasn’t until after the missed two-point conversion that chaos ensued.
According to police, two people were wounded in a shooting in the parking lot.
The game was delayed more than half an hour and was resumed only after police told CCS officials it was safe to do so.
When it did, Serra’s defense finished the job, holding St. Francis on a fourthdown play from near midfield with under a minute to play.
Lampkin took two knees to run out the clock.
Twenty days after Serra lost on its home field in San Mateo to St. Francis 44-21, the Padres turned the tables with a defensive showing for the ages and a brilliant display by Lampkin.
The senior quarterback, who struggled after playmaker and close friend Hassan Mahasin suffered a season-ending knee injury in early October, has returned to form, playing as he did his sophomore season when he led Serra into a state championship game.
“This feels better than anything,” he said.
Lampkin threaded the needle on a 21-yard touchdown pass over the middle to Sione Laulea, giving Serra a 10-6 lead in the third quarter after St. Francis went ahead 6-3 on Camilo Arquette’s 5-yard run just before halftime.
St. Francis reclaimed the advantage when its quarterback, Joshua Perry, scored on a 32-yard naked bootleg with 7:20 left. But as they did after their first touchdown, the Lancers missed the extra-point kick, keeping the score 12-10.
Given that Serra’s Leonardo
Galindo kicked a 49yard field goal in the first half, St. Francis’ two-point lead didn’t seem all that safe.
And it wasn’t. Serra marched from its 28 to St. Francis’ 3, where on third down Lampkin kept the ball on a read-option and dashed into the end zone for the decisive touchdown.
Lampkin said he heard the gunshots before the play.
“At first I was kind of confused until I heard it,” he said. “Then I was like, ‘Oh shoot, they’re shooting.’ But then I kept my composure.”
In the game between these teams three weeks ago, St. Francis running back Viliami Teu ran for a school record 344 yards and two touchdowns in 45 carries.
Friday, the senior finished with 71 yards in 21 carries.
“Serra just came more prepared,” Teu said. “They knew we run the ball. They just came with more than five people in the box. They had every hole stuffed. We were planning to throw it. But their DBs stepped up. They just came out with the win. They were the better team today.”
Walsh said his defense gave St. Francis different looks, with running back Petelo Gi doubling as a linebacker and more players rotating in and out.
“We played harder and more downhill,” Walsh said. “The first game we played kind of catch-andturn type of defense. In this game, I thought the kids played downhill. Just a total amazing display of scheme to coaching to playing and playing for one another.”
Serra improved to 7-0 in CCS title games, including 6-0 under Walsh.
Walsh said this latest championship was extra special because, to him, it felt as if the title was also for last spring’s team that had only a five-game season with no playoffs because of the pandemic.
“In my mind, this banner is as much for the team of 2020 as it is for the team of 2021,” Walsh said. “I feel that way. Have the deepest sympathy for that team because that was a great football team that didn’t get an opportunity to do what we did tonight. I see it as a joint banner.”
Serra (11-1) will move on to either a Northern California regional game next weekend or into the state Open Division championship game on Dec. 11 against Southern Section champion Mater Dei.
The California Interscholastic Federation will announce the matchups today.
For St. Francis, its season that included a historic victory over De La Salle in September and the rout of Serra for the West Catholic Athletic League championship on Nov. 6 -- not to mention two comeback victories in the playoffs -- ended with an 11-1 record.
“It didn’t take away from what we did,” St. Francis coach Greg Calcagno said of the defeat. “But obviously you don’t want to lose your last game. Everything we did was great except we didn’t finish today.”