McClymonds is champion again; HMB falls short
Warriors cap undefeated season by rolling to second straight title
The McClymonds Warriors are developing quite a niche as a small-school powerhouse among the state’s elite football programs.
The Warriors added to their illustrious athletic history with a second straight CIF state championship Saturday night, and they did so in very convincing fashion.
McClymonds thumped the host Golden West Trailblazers 42-12 in the Division 5-AA final at Visalia Community Stadium.
“The second time is really sweet,” McClymonds coach Michael Peters said. “This team went undefeated, something they have over last year’s team. They really wanted to go undefeated this year. That really motivated them.”
It’s been an impressive two-year run for Peters and the Warriors:
In 2016, McClymonds became the first Oakland Section team to win a CIF state title by capturing the Division 5-A state crown. The Warriors went 13-1, and their average margin of victory was 30.5 points per game. In 2017, McClymonds was even better. The Warriors posted a perfect record of 14-0, and their average margin of victory was 36.6 points per game.
“It’s a special achievement. It’s something we’ve worked really hard for over the last few years. The work to get here just didn’t start last year,” Peters said. “We want to continue to play at this level, and see how far we can take it.”
It’s not very often that a lopsided 30-point margin belies a team’s overall dominance, but that’s what happened against Golden West.
The Oakland Section champion Warriors overwhelmed the Central Section Division 4 champion Trailblazers in every facet.
McCylmonds had just 17 offensive plays in the first half, but tallied 257 yards of total offense. Ten of those 17 plays gained at least nine yards, and three of those went for over 40 yards.
McClymonds had a pair of outstanding individual performances from Charles Alberty and Jarmar Julien.
Alberty proved to be a nightmare for Golden West on offense and defense.
The senior receiver/cornerback hauled in an 11-yard strike from quarterback Emoreea Fountain for the game’s first touchdown. Fountain hooked up with Alberty for a 42-yard touchdown pass on the Warriors’ lone possession of the second quarter. Alberty closed out the firsthalf scoring by returning a fumble 70 yards for a touchdown.
Half Moon Bay edged in 3-A title game
In its first state football championship game, Half Moon Bay promptly fell into a 14-point hole in the first quarter Saturday night at Southwestern College in Chula Vista.
Despite shifting its offense to a ground attack, four turnovers — three interceptions and a fumble — haunted the Cougars in the CIF Division 3-A state final. Still, the Central Coast Section Open Division III champions were in the game until the very end before falling to Steele Canyon-San Diego 44-42.
For both teams this was their first appearance in a state championship game.
“We had to keep our cool and keep playing down 14-0,’’ senior quarterback Gavin Tomberlin said. “We drove the field after we got the safety to get started.”
Senior running back Chase Hofmann drove the attack for Half Moon Bay (14-1) with his 28 carries for 162 yards, including rushing for 122 by halftime.
But his yardage couldn’t prevent Half Moon Bay’s 17-game winning streak from being snapped.
Tomberlin was 13-for-32 passing for 197 yards and two touchdowns, including a 26-yarder to Hayden Von almen with 1:25 to play, closing the deficit to just two points.
“I think I left it all on the field and I know my teammates did,’’ Tomberlin said. “We just got beat by a better football team.’’
Trailing 34-21 heading into the final quarter, Half Moon Bay scored three times in the final 10:26 to scare Steele Canyon, which got a fouryard TD run by Deontae McKinney with 2:09 to play for what proved to be the game-winning points.