RB Perez powers Marin Catholic past Tam
Sometimes it seems Marin Catholic High’s elusive running back Matteo Perez simply has to step onto the field and he has another 100-plus yards rushing performance.
On a cool Saturday in Kentfield, Perez was up to his old tricks, rolling up 184 yards and scoring three touchdowns to lead the unbeaten Wildcats to a 49-14 thumping of visiting Tam.
Perhaps, however, Perez’s fluid style and quick cutback ability make it look easier than it really is.
“That Tam defense was shoestring tackling gods,” Perez said. “At times I was thinking the only way I was going to break off long runs was to jump over the defenders.”
Despite the high-praise for his opponent, Perez found a way to trim his shoestrings short enough to break off lengthy touchdown runs of 41 and 44 yards.
“Tam plays hard,” Marin Catholic coach Mazi Moayed said. “It was a spirited game. Tam coach (Matthew) LemMon does a great job with that team.”
In all honesty, Perez and Moayed were not just blowing smoke in complimenting Tam’s feisty effort.
The Red-tailed Hawks trailed 17-7 late in the second half after Tam linebacker Jack Ehlermann stepped in front of a Michael Ingrassia pass toward the end zone for an interception and raced 94 yards down the sideline for a touchdown.
“Ehlermann did his thing on the field like he usually does,” LemMon said. “MC likes to throw those quick outs close to
the end zone. We saw that on film. Jack anticipated it and took it back all the way. He was juiced after that play, for sure.”
Unfortunately for the Hawks, Marin Catholic simply had too many weapons.
The Wildcats tend to jump on the opposition early with big plays and never look back. Saturday’s game was no exception.
On MC’s fourth play from
scrimmage, Perez skirted into the secondary behind some powerhouse blocks on the left side of the line and romped 44 yards to the end zone.
“Matteo’s a great running back,” MC’s 6-foot-5 285-pound, road-paving lineman Dawson Brown said. “He reads everything perfectly and stays ahead of the play. We love blocking for him and we’re as happy as he is when he has a big play or a big game.”
Ingrassia, who runs almost as well as he passes, gained 113 yards on the ground.
But Ingrassia wasn’t quite as crisp in the passing game has he’s been so far this season, completing 16 of 29 passes for 227 yards.
“Sometimes it’s just a rhythm thing with quarterbacks,” Moayed said. “Michael was kind of in and out of rhythm today.”
Ingrassia, however, did engineer a nearly flawless seven-play, 87-yard drive for the Wildcats’ second touchdown. He was on the money with key completions during the drive of 16 yards to John Kreps and eventually a pinpoint, 38-yard bomb in
the end zone to Blake Wil- son for the touchdown.
Ingrassia distributed the ball widely, hooking up with nine different receivers, including on the final score of the game — a 31- yard touchdown strike to Kyle McBride.
Tam quarterback Rory Cronander, facing constant pressure from MC’s lightning-quick defensive front, threw two interceptions including a 20-yard picksix by MC defensive back Charlie Allen. Cronander finished with 14 completions for 111 yards.