Bears outlast Monarchs in early-season showdown
LOS ALTOS HILLS >> It’s still early and obviously things can change. But at this point in the young season, Menlo-Atherton and Archbishop Mitty are trending in the right direction.
They played a high-level game Friday night befitting of each’s Bay Area News Group ranking before M-A emerged with a 2821 victory at Foothill College.
Justin Anderson scored on a 1-yard keeper with 5:27 left to break a 21-21 tie, and M-A’s defense made two stops down the stretch — the last in the final minute — to preserve the seventh-ranked Bears’ second consecutive win over a West Catholic Athletic League team.
Last year, M-A lost to Bellarmine and Mitty to start the season.
This year, the Bears are 2-0 after beating those same teams.
““We worked extra hard in practice, and we wanted Mitty,” said linebacker Daniel Heimuli, a major-college prospect who led a charged defense. “This one was a big one.”
The game was much tighter than the 28-0 win over Bellarmine last week as 14th-ranked Mitty stormed back in the third quarter. Two touchdown passes from Shamir Bey to Jonah Advincula — the first from 6 yards out, the second on third-and-9 from 59 yards away — pulled the Monarchs even 21-21. Bey finished with 206 yards passing and three touchdowns.
But M-A answered. “Proud of our guys the way they battled,” M-A coach Adhir Ravipati said. “The second half, they showed some resolve. They found a way to win.”
Mitty opened its season with a 42-14 rout of Oakdale at the Honor Bowl and continued the momentum on its first series Friday, driving for a touchdown. Bey’s 3-yard pass to Reymello Murphy in the front corner of the end zone made it 7-0.
But M-A responded quickly, tying the score on a 20-yard touchdown pass from Anderson to Malik Johnson.
The Bears went ahead 14-7 in the second quarter on the most unusual plays. One moment, Mitty was marching for a go-ahead score. The next, 6-2, 280-pound tackle Noa Ngalu stole a handoff and rumbled 65 yards to the end zone for an M-A touchdown.
“I saw the ball in the air and I had to get to it before it touched the floor,” said Ngalu, a Washington commit. “Right when I got it, I had the whole team behind me.” Was he thinking six? “I thought I was going to get caught from behind,” Ngalu said, laughing. “But happily I didn’t.”