LOOKING FOR AN ENCORE
WCAL powers Serra, St. Francis face new challenges after achieving rare feat — winning final game of the season
In the storied history of the West Catholic Athletic League, none of its powerhouse programs claimed a state football title until last year.
Denied in six previous tries, it took one weekend in the middle of December to put an end to that as Serra and St. Francis wrapped triumphant 2017 campaigns over a 24hour span with California Interscholastic Federation crowns at Hornet Stadium in Sacramento.
“It was good to see us both erase the concept that we’re a really good league that has never won a state championship,” said Serra coach Patrick Walsh, whose Padres finished as a runner-up in 2016.
In his 18th season at the helm, the former standout at De La Salle — 2,029 rushing yards and 38 touchdowns as a senior in 1992 — is not ready to look back, yet.
“I think it will sink in when I retire, because frankly there’s always next year,” Walsh said.
It’s rare for a team to win its last game.
Walsh mentioned it. Ditto for St. Francis coach Greg Calcagno, who enters his sixth season in command at his alma mater.
“It was a great run,” he said. “It was something that we’ve never done before as a school and we were able to enjoy that for a long time, but now we started on August 3rd and nobody cares about 2017.”
Not only is the target on their back bigger, it doesn’t help that neither can use a season-ending loss as fuel.
“A natural response to that is complacency, entitlement, false expectations,” Walsh said. “And I think that’s all the things we’re dealing with right now.”
After an exodus of talent due to graduation, the Padres will rely on the
leadership of quarterback Luke Bottari, who as a junior established a nonprofit foundation Play4Prevention to tackle teen suicide, and middle linebacker E.J. Lahlouh, a Davidson College commit.
Meanwhile, St. Francis won’t lack for returning talent, with five seniors among the top 300 recruits in the state according to 247Sports:
• Defensive end Joshua Pakola;
• Safety Evan Williams;
• Athlete Maurice Wilmer;
• Cornerback Justin Sinclair;
• Offensive tackle Nikko Pohahau.
“Again, a good problem to have,” said Calcagno, who’s in constant contact with college coaches. “I’ve been talking to them a lot, right? And the good news
about every one of those kids is our focus and their focus right now is to play St. Francis football and let the rest take care of itself.”
Much in doubt for the Lancers is the return of record-breaking running back Darrell Page after the school declined comment on his status last week.
Even if he’s not in uniform, though, don’t expect a different philosophy on the gridiron at St. Francis.
“We’re going to play defense first, special teams second and we’re going to go try to run the football,” Calcagno said. “And, as always, we’ll adapt a little bit.”
The Padres also aim to maintain the same philosophy, beliefs and structure despite the departure of both coordinators during the offseason.
Both teams open up
with the Honor Bowl, which will feature five games at St. Francis on Aug. 24-25.
It won’t get any easier prior to the WCAL campaign, as Serra closes its nonleague slate at Pittsburgh, while the Lancers host De La Salle.
“I don’t know how smart the coach is to schedule all those guys,” said Calcagno, with a laugh.
“We like to force the issue,” Walsh said. “If we have weaknesses or holes, at Serra we like to know prior to the WCAL season.”
The regular season fittingly concludes Nov. 3 with Serra at home against St. Francis.
“Hopefully both teams are playing well,” Calcagno said, “and it means something at the end.”
“It was good to see us both erase the concept that we’re a really good league that has never won a state championship.” — Serra coach Patrick Walsh