O’Dowd tops Campolindo

Austin Jones rushed for 139 yards and two touchdowns and Moe Flynn threw for 190 yards and two TDs to lead host Bishop O’Dowd to a 35-14 win over Campolindo in the North Coast Section Division 2 semifinals.

The Dragons (10-2) advance to play Marin Catholic in the championship game next weekend. The Wildcats beat Bishop O’Dowd in last year’s Division 3 semifinals. Both Marin Catholic and O’Dowd voted against going to the NorCal playoffs by flipping a coin, choosing to play for a section championship.

“I’ve been calling it a little bit of a revenge tour,” Jones said. “Campolindo — freshman year, they beat us out. Now we get another chance at Marin Catholic.”

The Dragons got two early turnovers to jump out to a 14-0 lead in the opening minutes. From there, Jones ground up the Cougars defense.

On the opening possession of the second half, Jones carried 11 times. By the time he ran in for a 1-yard touchdown, there remained 3 minutes, 51 seconds in the quarter.

“We just wanted to beat them with our athleticism, hop on them quick,” Jones said. “Towards the second half, we just wanted to keep pounding on them once we had our lead.”

Campolindo quarterback Grant Harper fumbled on the first offensive play. The ball was recovered by Colton Vardell on the Cougars 23. Three plays later, Jones ran it in from the 1.

On the third play of the next drive, Harper’s pass was intercepted by Malachi Ward. Flynn cashed in with a 21-yard pass to Ward.

“Talent’s going to beat us when we fall behind,” Harper said. “And that’s basically what happened today.”

The Cougars (10-3) got a break when Flynn was sacked and Brandon Manty scooped up the ball and returned it 32 yards for a touchdown in the second quarter. That made it 14-7. The Dragons responded with a nine-play, 72-yard scoring drive. Flynn found Jelani Warren over the middle for a 30yard touchdown to make it 21-7.

Flynn finished 14 of 23 for 190 yards and the two touchdowns. Harper finished 10 of 32 for 190 yards, a touchdown and an interception. The TD came on a throw down the sideline that Max Schoenberger turned into a 60-yard score.

O’Dowd held Campolindo to 31 yards on the ground.

San Ramon Valley-Danville 14,

Vintage-Napa 3: In an NCS Division 1 semifinal, Noah Thomas clinched the win with a 2-yard run with 1:58 to go. The Wolves (8-4) move into next week’s championship against Freedom-Oakley. Vintage finished 10-3.

Eureka 21, Las Lomas-Walnut Creek

0: In an NCS Division 3 semifinal, Alex Miller rushed for two touchdowns and Zack Reed added a 45-yard TD run, giving host Eureka (12-0) the win over Las Lomas (12-1).

Salesian-Richmond 31, Stellar Prep-Oakland 18: In an NCS Division 5 semifinal, quarterback Josh Del Sol accounted for 230 yards and three touchdowns as the host Pride (8-4) upended Stellar Prep (4-7). Salesian plays Middleton for the title.

CENTRAL COAST SECTION

Aptos 35, Sacred Heart Prep-Atherton 34: In the Division 3 championship at Westmont-Campbell, Raymond Price gave SHP (11-2) a 34-29 lead with two minutes to play on a 48-yard touchdown, but Aptos (11-2) came right back and scored the gamewinner on a 10-yard TD run by Marcos Reyes with 57 seconds left. Aptos advances to the Northern California Bowl Championships.

Valley Christian 31, St. Francis 30: Tommy Dunham scored on a 6-yard run in the second overtime, and an extra point by Lucas Ramirez gave the second-seeded Warriors (11-2) the Division 2 championship. St. Francis, which beat Valley Christian 7-3 during the regular season, took a 30-24 lead in the second OT on a 4-yard pass from Ryan Daly to Evan Williams, but the extra point was blocked. Both teams advance to the Northern California playoffs next week.

Burlingame 38, Carlmont-Belmont 0: In the Division 4 title game at Sequoia-Redwood City, sophomore Lucas Meredith rushed 14 times for 128 yards and Jordan Malashus threw touchdown passes of 29 yards to Devon Malashus and 33 yards to Taylor Kaufman as Burlingame (11-2) won its first CCS title since 2004. Carlmont finished 10-3.

CROSS COUNTRY

Nike Cross Nationals: RedwoodLarkspur senior Liam Anderson won in Portland, Ore., breaking the course record while covering the 3.1 milesin 14 minutes, 57.6 seconds. The Stanfordbound Anderson won his second straight state title last weekend.

MaxPreps senior writer Mitch Stephens contributed to this report.