Late TD, interception on last play keep Bells unbeaten
SAN JOSE >> Bellarmine’s improbable start to the football season reached another level Sept. 17 as the Bells celebrated a 2821 victory over Central Catholicmodesto to stay undefeated.
Wade Smith’s 34-yard touchdown pass to Thomas Divittorio on third-and-long broke a 21-21 tie with 56 seconds left.
Central Catholic, one of the Sacjoaquin Section’s top teams, reached the Bellarmine 17 with three seconds to play as it tried to erase yet another deficit against the Bells.
But on the final snap, Nate Escalada intercepted Tyler Wentworth’s pass in the end zone as time expired, sending Bellarmine players spilling onto the San Jose City College field as a packed home grandstand erupted.
Bellarmine is 3-0 for the first time in six years. Central Catholic fell to 3-1.
The victory flipped the script on Jalal Beauchman’s first game as Bellarmine’s coach last spring. That night in Modesto, the Bells led 21-0 before Central Catholic rallied to win 28-21, the same score as Sept. 17.
“It definitely meant a lot to us,” Smith said. “Going into this week, we all kind of had that in the back of our minds, just kind of remembering what happened last year and not wanting that to happen again. I think we came out here and made a statement. It was a good team win.”
Central Catholic never led but answered every Bellarmine touchdown except the final one.
Bellarmine, ranked ninth by the Bay Area News Group, went ahead 21-14 when Smith’s 47-yard pass to Chris Jaeb set up Ben Pfaff’s 1-yard touchdown run with 5:52 left.
NO. 3 PITTSBURG 31, WILCOX 26 >>
Pittsburg escaped with a victory after recovering an onside kick in the final minute of a physical contest in Santa Clara quite reminiscent of a matchup between the teams in 2019.
NO. 5 LOS GATOS 49, HALF MOON BAY 21>> Playing in front of a home crowd for the first time this fall, Los Gatos needed little time to get rolling. The Wildcats (4-0) broke the game open with 28 points in the second quarter to take a commanding 35-7 lead into halftime and never looked back. BURLINGAME 26, HOMESTEAD 13 >> Burlingame built a 26-0 lead and never looked back, improving to 4-0. Homestead was completely silenced offensively as Burlingame surged to its big lead. Ibrahim Haba led the Burlingame defense with two sacks and two tackles behind the line of scrimmage. LELAND 28, PIONEER 0>> The visiting Chargers (2-1) pulled away from Pioneer in the second half in the Battle of the Den — aka Almaden Val- ley. Mark Eby scored his second touchdown to give Leland a threetd advantage in the third quarter, and Pierre Goldstein finished off the scoring with a 38-yard run in the fourth quarter. .
GUNN 56, YERBA BUENA 6 >> Gunn scored all but one of its touchdowns in the first half then laid off the gas as an already depleted Yerba Buena squad took more blows to injury, Titans coach Jason Miller said. It was 49-0 at halftime.
SAN MATEO 33, FREMONT-SUNNYVALE 7 >> San Mateo scored 20 points in the second quarter to build a 26-point cushion at halftime on its way to a third consecutive victory to open the season. Junior QB Giancarlo Selvitella ran for three touchdowns and threw a TD pass to senior Noah Rodriguez.
OAK GROVE 25, HILL 13 >> Oak Grove, playing at home in San Jose, opened a 19-0 lead at halftime and held off Hill in the second half for its first victory of the season. Nathaniel Garcia had touchdown runs of 7 and 22 yards to lead the way. The Eagles also scored when Junior Alvarado threw a 19-yard touchdown pass to Tayshawn Saunders and Caleb Vierra returned a punt 71 yards across the goal line.
ST. JOSEPH-SANTA MARIA 54, SANTA TERESA 7 >> Santa Teresa was overwhelmed on the road against an opponent that was winless in three games, the past two by a total of five points. St. Joseph took out its frustration against the visitors from San Jose, scoring 20 points in the first quarter and 27 in the second for a 47-7 halftime lead.