Injuries to bigname QBs hurt Steelers, Saints
Everyone loves a good comeback tale and here are four good ones from the 2019 football season: Half Moon Bay: A year after a 37 rebuilding season, the Cougars are back in the Metro rankings following a truly startling 400 win over previous No. 19 Sacred Heart PrepAtherton on Friday.
The Cougars, the CIF 2017 Northern California 3A champions, lost 21 seniors to graduation, mostly key starters. So last year, the team predictably dealt with inexperience and a few lopsided losses, including 356 to SHP.
On Friday, HMB junior running back and linebacker Tristan Hofmann, a starter on the 2017 team, rushed for 100 yards and four touchdowns and helped record the shutout against a team that defeated No. 22 St. Ignatius the week before. “Not expecting it all,” Half Moon Bay coach Keith Holden said. “A win, sure, but not that score. We were pleased with every aspect, but we blocked a punt early. That pleased me most.”
Surprised with the overall turnaround this season? “Honestly, these guys work so darn hard every offseason, I can’t say I am,” Holden said. “They’re just so focused and truly take it one game and play at a time.” Livermore: Since 2003, the Cowboys haven’t had a winning record and only once have won more than four games. But under firstyear head coach John Wade, previously at MiramonteOrinda and Dublin, and dualthreat junior quarterback Shaun Smith, the Cowboys are 40. On Friday, they beat a struggling Healdsburg squad 883.
Livermore ran just 32 plays in the game — there was a running clock in the second half — and had its starters out in the second quarter against a team that has been outscored 2029 in four losses. Still, an 85point win after 15 nonwinning seasons seems unfathomable. Piner: This comeback season looks very much like Livermore’s. With only one winning season since 2003 — 65 in 2015 — the Prospectors, also led by a firstyear coach in Terence Bell, are 40 and, get this, they’ve outscored opponents by a margin of 2440. Cloverdale (550), Novato (530), DrakeSan Anselmo (650) and Sonoma Valley (710) all have fallen victim to the Piner onslaught.
Senior quarterback Yonaton Isack has thrown 89 passes in four games, completing 64 for 1,383 yards and 25 touchdowns. Isaac Torres (21 catches, 478 yards, 10 touchdowns) is his favorite target, but three others also are running free: Adrian Torres (22, 300, 4), Michael Collins (12, 305, 7) and Jake Herman (12, 238, 5). Torres has also rushed for a teamhigh 281 yards and five touchdowns.
Junior linebacker Isaac Kim leads the defense with 19 tackles, and Herman and Sumail Berhe have four sacks apiece.
The Prospectors will get their first big test Friday at home against Miramonte (31), which is led by North Coast Section recordbreaking quarterback Matt Meredith, who has passed for 1,260 yards, 17 touchdowns and just one interception. He passed for an NCSrecord nine touchdowns to go with 441 yards in a 6254 win over Stellar PrepOakland on Sept. 5. Bellarmine: This is a onegame comeback for one of the Bay Area’s most successful programs.
The Bells, winners of seven Central Coast Section championships, recently have fallen on hard times, with backtoback seasons of 47 and 28. When they started 02 this season under head coach Mike Janda, who has 283 wins since taking over the program in 1984, the rumblings around the West Catholic Athletic League and San Jose were great.
But on Friday at San Jose City College, touchdown runs by Aizon Henry, Reese Burrill and Adam Hayashi lifted the Bells to a 2113 win over VintageNapa, which entered the game 30 and No. 20 in The Chronicle’s rankings.
Bellarmine has two weeks to build off the win before a Sept. 27 WCAL opener against Mitty at SJCC.