Campolindo tops Granada
For coach Tim Silva and his Granada-Livermore football team, the game plan was simple: Disrupt John Torchio.
Despite the Matadors’ best efforts, they quickly became the latest postseason casualty at the hands of the red-hot Campolindo-Moraga quarterback.
Torchio threw for 280 yards and five touchdowns, and rushed for 52 yards and another score. He then took the fourth quarter off as the Cougars cruised to a 42-7 victory in the North Coast Section Division 2 championship game at Dublin High.
“He’s dynamic. He’s a special player,” Silva said of Torchio. “We tried to pressure him, but he gets rid of the ball quick, and he’s got good guys to throw to, and he just makes it hard on you. We knew what we had to face going into it. He didn’t disappoint. That’s for sure.”
Had a performance like this been suggested to Torchio 14 weeks ago, the first-year starter would have laughed at the thought.
“My first play against Marin Catholic, I caught the ball and thought, ‘Holy … I’m at quarterback right now,’ ” Torchio said, recalling Campolindo’s season-opening loss. “I’m definitely used to it now, and I’m in a groove.”
That groove has a chance to continue next week as Campolindo (10-4) heads to a California Interscholastic Federation regional game for the fourth straight season. The Cougars defeated Palma-Salinas in the 2016 regional round before defeating Bakersfield Christian 31-7 in the CIF 4-AA State Bowl. The Cougars will learn their regional opponent Sunday.
Campolindo took the game’s opening kickoff and delivered a crisp 10-play scoring drive capped by a 17-yard pass from Torchio to Vincent Mossotti. The senior duo befuddled the Granada defense in the first half, connecting nine times for 139 yards and two scores.
“He’s one of those kids who can elevate himself,” Campolindo coach Kevin Macy said of Mossotti, who didn't have a second-half catch. “Mossotti has that high end, where he can just keep blossoming.”
The Cougars scored on six of their first seven possessions.
Granada (9-5) got its score on a 50-yard run by Thomas-Earl Reeves at the midpoint of the second quarter.
Central Coast Section
Salinas 25, Milpitas 18: In Division 1 at Independence-San Jose, Brett Reade rushed for a touchdown and passed for one, leading the second-seeded Cowboys (11-2) past the topseeded Trojans (12-1), who led 18-7 early in the third quarter on the strength of a 45-yard run by Tariq Bracy (180 yards rushing). Reade hit Ivan Curiel with a 9-yard TD pass midway through the third to trim Salinas’ deficit to 18-13, and his 29-yard completion to Jeff Weimer set up a 1-yard TD run by Ritchie Cerda with 2:18 left in the third to put Salinas up for good. Both teams will advance to CIF Northern California regional games next week. Gilroy 38, Menlo SchoolAtherton 21: In Division 5 at Westmont-Campbell, Joseph Barnes rushed 35 times for 232 yards and five touchdowns as the top-seeded Mustangs (13-0) won their first CCS title. The second-seeded Knights (8-5), seeking their first title, had taken a 14-10 lead on touchdown passes from Emilio Simbeck to Aidan Israelski and Landon Smith, but Gilroy outscored Menlo 28-7 in the second half. GIRLS VOLLEYBALL
In the state Division 1 final at Santiago Canyon College (Orange County), Sarah Ciszek and Taylor Heberie combined for 26 kills as Santa MargaritaRancho Santa Margarita (34-9) breezed to a 25-19, 25-12, 25-13 win over James Logan-Union City (40-5), which got 13 kills by Tatiana Toleafoe.
In the Division 5 title match, Amy Buffini had 17 kills leading Marantha Christian-San Diego (34-1) to a 25-23, 25-10, 25-20 win over San MarinNovato (19-12), which got a combined 11 kills from Emily O’Brien and Kelsea Bergerson.
MaxPreps senior writer Mitch Stephens contributed to this report.