QB Fountain elevates McClymonds to win

Emoreea Fountain threw four touchdown passes and rushed for another score as McClymonds-Oakland defeated host East Nicolaus 35-12 on Friday to advance to its second CIF State Bowl game in two seasons.

The Warriors (13-0) never trailed in the 5-AA Northern Regional, building a 14-0 lead late in the first quarter and pushing it to 32-6 by midway through the third quarter.

After East Nicolaus (13-1) — which lost to McClymonds 45-26 in the 5-A regional playoff a season ago — pulled to within 14-6 in the closing seconds of the first quarter, Fountain gave the Warriors cushion once more with a 36-yard touchdown strike to Charles Alberty for a 20-6 halftime lead.

McClymonds took advantage of two fumbles in the third quarter, capitalizing with a 1-yard Fountain run on one and a scoring pass from Fountain to Alberty on the other.

The Warriors will play at Golden West-Visalia (12-2) in the 5-AA State Bowl final on Dec. 16. McClymonds was the 5-A State Bowl champ in 2016, defeating La Jolla Country Day-La Jolla 20-17. Strathmore 49, St. PatrickSt. Vincent-Vallejo 35: Despite a huge night from Akil Edwards, the visiting Bruins (11-2) were unable to prevail in the 6-AA NorCal final.

Strathmore (15-0), which lost to St. Patrick-St. Vincent 29-28 in the CIF 6-A State Bowl Championship game a season ago, closed the game with 21 unanswered points to rally from a 35-28 deficit with 9:54 remaining. Spartans running back Joseph Garcia scored touchdowns on runs of 3, 8, 20, 11 and 1 yards.

Edwards led a night of big touchdown runs for the Bruins with scores from 11, 84 and 73 yards out. Kailon JohnsonLoud also had a long scoring run for SPSV, a 71-yard scamper that led to a brief 35-28 lead.

Strathmore advances to face Orange (13-2), which defeated Caruthers 46-43 in overtime on Friday.