Sacred Heart tops rival Riordan
It’s been a trying season for first-year Sacred Heart Cathedral football head coach Barry McLaughlin.
Last week, due to only 15 healthy bodies left on the varsity, he had to pull the plug on the junior varsity program.
“That was a tough week,” McLaughlin said. “We knew early that was a possibility. But still, it wasn’t an easy decision.”
The move made Saturday’s 41-21 West Catholic Athletic League win over Riordan all the more satisfying.
Five sophomores from that JV team made contributions, Will Irons threw for 310 yards and two touchdowns and Anthony Heard rushed for three scores as the Irish (5-4, 2-4) won at City College of San Francisco.
And for the second straight year, they held the Stanfel Cup, which goes to the winner of this San Francisco rivalry. Riordan, which got two touchdowns from Max Mezie, dropped to 2-7 and 1-5.
Most satisfying, with 21 points, the Irish now are almost assured a spot in the Central Coast Section Open Division 3 playoffs. Quite an accomplishment considering the attrition resulting from a rash of injuries.
“It’s all about the kids,” McLaughlin said. “Things have been far from perfect, but the players have bought in. I think they genuinely like each other, and they play hard.”
The Irish also got big performances from Areon Mitchell (seven catches, 177 yards, one TD, interception, fumble recovery) and Ronan Orford (nine catches, 82 yards, six extra points). Besides his three scores, Heard added an interception on defense.
Mezie had a 90-yard kickoff return for a touchdown, caught a touchdown pass from Travis Benham (207 total yards) and Garrison Howe added a TD run for Riordan.
No. 14 Cardinal Newman-Santa Rosa 34, No. 12 Rancho Cotate-Rohnert Park 27: At Santa Rosa Junior College, quarterback Beau Barrington scored on a 1-yard plunge with 1:10 left to break a 27-27 tie and give the Cardinals (7-2, 5-0) the win over Cougars (8-1, 4-1) for the North Bay League title. Barrington broke a 20-20 tie with a 10-yard TD run in the fourth quarter, but Rancho Cotate quarterback Jake Simmons responded with a 40-yard TD run to tie it at 27-27 with less than four minutes left. Cardinal Newman’s Tanner Mendoza scored on runs of 65, 7 and 6 yards. Simmons fired TD passes of 50 yards to Logan Reese and 75 yards to Cyrus Hernandez and also scored on a 3-yard run. After about half of Cardinal Newman’s buildings were destroyed by the Wine Country fires, the Cardinals and Cougars played a nonleague game Oct. 23 at Rancho Cotate, which prevailed 41-28.
#4 Serra 47, St. Ignatius 14: It took Isiah Kendrick just eight carries to rush for 221 yards and five touchdowns as the visiting Padres (7-2, 6-0 WCAL) took a 47-0 halftime lead en route to the win over the Wildcats (2-7, 1-5). Kendrick scored on runs of 73, 21, 59, 35 and 11 yards. Luke Bottari completed 12 of 13 passes for 123 yards and one score, a 15-yarder to Chris Park. Serra held a 509-295 edge in yards.
#11 Marin Catholic-Kentfield 58,
Justin-Siena-Napa 0: Spencer Petras completed 13 of 16 passes for 247 yards and four scores, two going to Peter Brown (six catches, 141 yards) as the host Wildcats (8-0, 5-0) clinched the Marin County Athletic League title. Colby Jacques added two rushing touchdowns and one receiving. JustinSiena dropped to 3-5 and 3-1.
Galileo 66, Washington 0: Yarvell Smith rushed 12 times for 184 yards and three touchdowns and Ronald Fox added 148 yards rushing on just four carries, including TD bursts of 77 and 65 yards as the Lions (6-2, 4-1 Academic Athletic Association) rolled to victory at Washington (4-4, 2-3).
Burlingame 20, San Mateo 10: In the 90th Little Big Game, the visiting Panthers (6-3) led 6-3 before getting touchdowns from Savaun Brown (8-yard run) and Dylan Neely (33-yard fumble return) to take control against the Bearcats (6-3). Burlingame leads the series 54-32-4.