Successful year ends with many to be honored
Picking All-Metro football teams is like going to a premium new car showroom. All the choices are shiny, highperformance vehicles, and you can’t really make a bad choice.
But deciphering between first- and second-team and honorable mention placement can be excruciating, especially this season.
We’ve been doing this for 16 seasons and the quality of athletes in 2017 was better than ever. Consider this: A record nine Metro teams reached state championship games. That’s quite a few elite and accomplished players to consider.
But the choices have been made, and now we’d like to do something a little more enjoyable: Cite a few fun facts and hand out a few more awards.
So without further delay, here goes: Best linebacker name: Mack Roesner (Marin Catholic-Kentfield). All linebackers should throw “Mack” into their name. … even if somewhere in the middle. Name of the year: Riordan linebacker Folasa’aitu Punalo Pulete Tofi. For those counting, that’s 26 letters — the same number as the alphabet. For our sake, we’re using his shortened first nickname Lasa. Unexpected versatility: De La Salle two-way lineman Christian Villasenor , a 5foot-9, 225-pound senior, would discard his helmet at halftime to play tuba with the school’s marching band.
“We’re all for the extracurriculars,” De La Salle coach Justin Alumbaugh said. “Christian is bright and talented enough to be able to manage both and do well in school. He was a big contributor on the line, and he’s an awesome kid.” Remarkable QB play: The eight on the first and second teams — half of whom were listed as all-purpose players — combined to throw 282 touchdown passes and just 44 interceptions. Among the four recognized strictly as QBs, that split was 162-17. Freshman of the Year: Tristan Hofmann (Half Moon Bay). The younger brother of first-team utility man Chase Hofmann, Tristan (6-1, 180) started all season at middle linebacker and had 91 tackles, six sacks and three fumble recoveries. He also rushed for 409 yards and seven TDs, helping the Cougars to their landmark season. Coach of the Year: Paul Cronin (Cardinal NewmanSanta Rosa).
Virtually every coach puts his heart and soul into his program. But what Cronin had to navigate this season was well beyond the call. Not only was half the school destroyed by one of the most destructive wildfires in state history, but nearly 100 students/teachers/coaches lost their homes, including five of his players.
Two of the players — quarterback Beau Barrington and leading receiver Kyle Carinalli — combined on a game-winning 42-yard touchdown pass with 92 seconds left to lift Cardinal Newman to a 29-28 win over archrival Rancho CotateRohnert Park to reach the North Coast Section Division 3 final.
Cardinal Newman lost the next week 59-56 to Marin Catholic-Kentfield, but a 10-3 season and No. 12 Metro ranking while navigating the devastation and real-life drama makes Cronin the obvious winner. First-team coaches: Keith Holden (Half Moon Bay), MarkHuynh( Galileo ), Michael P et ers(Mc Cl ymonds Oakland ), Ryan Partridge (Liberty-Brentwood) and Patrick Walsh (Serra).
Holden led Half Moon Bay (14-1) to a dominating run to Peninsula Athletic League Bay Division, Central Coast Section and regional Division 3-A titles.
Huynh thought he’d never get Galileo out of San Francisco, but instead the AAAchampion Lions (11-2) won a regional 6-A title at Rio Vista, before hightailing it 602 miles (one way) to win the San Francisco Section’s first state crown.
Peters continued to get the most out of McClymonds as the Warriors (14-0) won their second straight state crown.
Partridge, just hoping for a smooth transition as a firstyear coach at Liberty, instead sent it on a historic voyage, finishing 11-2 and winning its first NCS title.
Walsh led Serra (13-2) to a season-ending 12-game winning streak that culminated with a 38-14 win over CajonSan Bernardino in the state 2-AA title game. Second-team coaches: Floyd Burnsed (Acalanes), Greg Calcagno (St. Francis), Vic Galli (Pittsburg), Gehrig Hotaling (Rancho CotateRohnert Park) and Kelly King (Milpitas). Game of the Year: The aforementioned 59-56 win for Marin Catholic over Cardinal Newman in the NCS 3A title game at Rancho Cotate, behind a mammoth 502-yard, four-touchdown performance by Iowa-bound quarterback Spencer Petras.
In a game that featured 1,205 yards of offense, the Wildcats trailed almost the entire way, but got back-toback unanswered TD runs by Anthony Marino late in the fourth quarter to pull out the emotional win.
Barrington accounted for 436 yards and five touchdowns. The game began with a 99-yard kickoff return by Cardinal Newman’s Mark Boschetti.