Carlmont-Belmont, Burlingame vie for CCS Division 4 title

Carlmont-Belmont head coach Jake Messina knows how he would have reacted if someone had told him in 2016 that the Scots would be playing for a Central Coast Section title by his third season.

“I would have thought they were bananas,” he said, “but here we are.”

Carlmont, from the humble Ocean Division of the Peninsula Athletic League, has risen quickly behind a disciplined staff, an old-school Wing-T offensive attack, and commitment to strength and conditioning.

The Scots (10-2) play Burlingame (10-2), another Wing-T program, in Saturday’s CCS Division 4 championship game at Sequoia-Redwood City. Messina is a 1990 Sequoia alum.

In the 12 seasons before Messina arrived, the Scots had three winning seasons, didn’t win more than six games and went through seven head coaches.

Before first- and secondround wins over Willow GlenSan Jose (28-7) and top-seeded Independence-San Jose (28-21), Carlmont had not been to the playoffs since 1991.

The Scots would have made the playoffs last season, but a missed field-goal try at the end of regulation against Sequoia led to an overtime loss and an 8-2 year. Carlmont was 3-7 in Messina’s first season.

“A lot of the kids on this team are riding the wave started from last season,” Messina said.

The Scots are the first team from the Ocean Division — the lowest of the three-tier PAL that was formed in 2008 — to reach a CCS final.

“Getting to this point in only our third year is something we couldn’t have dreamed of,” Messina said.

The Scots are led by 6-foot, 200-pound senior running back/linebacker Julian Morin, the division’s Offensive Player of the Year who has rushed for 1,569 yards (9 yards per carry, 14 touchdowns) and speedy junior Jonaven Kuhn (1,163, 11), the division’s utility Player of the Year.

“Julian is big and powerful, can run between the tackles, outside, and he can catch the ball,” Messina said. “He can do it all. Jonaven is explosive, a powerful kid.”

Jonaven’s brother Jayden, a senior, is probably the team’s best all-around athlete, Siupeli Netane is is a promising sophomore quarterback and twoway lineman Daniel Taumalolo (6-2, 270) is drawing FBS attention.

“We were hoping for incremental growth and tried to implement a template of high standards,” Messina said. “But the players have bought in and I have some excellent coaches who have helped turn this around sooner than we thought.”

Said Burlingame head coach John Philipopoulos: “Coach Messina has done great job of turning around that program. You can tell he really built a foundation asking for a year-round foundation. Making it to the championship is definitely a byproduct all that work has paid off.”

Philipopoulos knows all about quick turnarounds.

In his first season at Burlingame, the Panthers won their first 11 games before losing in the CCS final. Two years later, led by Metro Player of the Year Drew Shiller, Burlingame won its last section crown.

Unlike Carlmont, Burlingame has had a rock-steady program under Philipopoulos, who has gone 52-17 over the past six seasons. Winning another section title would be huge for the program, which was moved down from the PAL Bay (A Division) to Lake, meaning it was not eligible for the state bowl games.

That doesn’t diminish this game in any way, according to either coach.

“Since January, we’ve been prepping for getting to as far as we could go,” Philipopoulos said. “We won our league championship. We won our rivalry game and our last big test will come on Saturday.”

Burlingame’s strength is terrific line play on both sides, led by Noah Lavulo (6-2, 230), who also plays some linebacker and fullback. The Panthers’ front seven on defense is stout, led by Dylan Neeley (eight sacks, 17 tackles for loss). Offensively, four players have at least 300 yards rushing, including 6-2, 195-pound sophomore Lucas Meredith (975 yards rushing, 17 touchdowns).