Serra 38, Cajon 14: Kickoff return ignites Padres’ rally.
SACRAMENTO — It was gut-check time for the Serra High football team.
With a 14-0 first-half lead gone after Cajon-San Bernardino tied Friday’s CIF 2-AA State Championship Bowl game with a 99-yard drive late in the third quarter, the Padres badly needed a spark.
It came from 5-foot-7, 150pound junior Malakai Rango. On a special teams play.
Rango returned the ensuing kickoff 72 yards to the Cajon 2-yard line to set up David Coker’s go-ahead touchdown run. It was the first of 24 unanswered points to close out a 38-14 win at Sacramento State’s Hornets Stadium for the program’s first state bowl title.
“In games likes this and seasons like this, it’s the bottom of the fire. It’s the embers that light the entire fire,” Serra coach Patrick Walsh said. “Those are the type of moments. … These are the names that resonate in championship games. That kickoff return was magical.”
The championship victory at least partially healed the wounds of last season when the Padres lost the CIF 2-A State Bowl 42-40 to Sierra Canyon-Chatsworth on the same field.
“This year, experience is priceless,” Walsh said. “The experience of being here and being in the same exact locker room, and the same bus trip and the whole deal really, really paid off tonight. We had a better spirit about us and a better game plan of business.”
The kick return wasn’t Rango’s only impactful play. He had a touchdown-saving tackle of running back Joseph Yarber on the game’s opening drive. Yarber was en route to a 50-yard scoring run when Rango tripped him up at the Serra 12-yard line. Two plays later, Cajon lost a fumble that was recovered by Davis Vakalahi — another one of Walsh’s embers, starting in place of suspended linebacker Raymond Redmond.
Serra (13-2) capitalized on the turnover with a 10-play scoring drive capped by Isiah Kendrick taking a Luke Bottari screen pass 14 yards for the touchdown. It was the first of four touchdowns by the senior tailback.
“It was a crazy, intense game,” said Kendrick, who had 180 yards of total offense, including 110 on the ground with three scores. “When it came down to it, our conditioning paid off and who was stronger out front paid off.”
Rango’s return may have provided that spark, but it was the team’s defense that brought out the gasoline cans.
Cajon (14-2) came into the game averaging just shy of 49 points per game. The Cowboys defeated Rancho VerdeMoreno Valley 70-23 in the Southern regional game, scoring 50 points in the first half. Quarterback Jayden Daniels entered the game having thrown for nearly 5,000 yards and 61 touchdown passes. His favorite target, 6-foot-8 receiver Darren Jones, had caught 92 balls for 1,962 yards and 27 touchdowns.
“They had some guys,” Serra defensive coordinator Chris Vasser said. “I’ve never seen high school football players like that. We literally almost had to completely change our defense. I’m just completely stunned right now.”
One of those defensive changes was asking 6-3 senior receiver Patrick Nunn to play cornerback for the first time ever — and cover Jones.
Jones caught nine passes in the championship, including a touchdown on a Hail Mary at the end of the first half, but Nunn denied a handful of other big catches. One of those denials was on a fade route jump ball on 4th-andgoal midway through the second quarter.
“He’s a special talent,” Nunn said of Jones. “I knew he was going to make plays today.”
Junior Edmond Lahlouh also made plays on defense, leading the Padres with 14 tackles. He also had 2.5 sacks and an interception (just Daniels’ fifth all season).
“I’m just so proud of my defense and my team,” Lahlouh said. “It’s amazing.”