Sacred Heart Prep rides defense to first state title
ATHERTON >> Few students at Sacred Heart Prep figure to be more versed on the football program’s rise to prominence than senior quarterback Jack Herrell.
He grew up on campus as the Gators claimed five Central Coast Section titles over a six-year span along with NorCal trophies in 2013 and ’15.
Saturday afternoon proved to be his opportunity to expand on the football legacy at SHP with the school’s first-ever state title in a 16-0 victory over visiting Righetti of Santa Maria in the CIF Division 5-A championship game.
“It’s crazy,” said Herrell, one of four co-captains. “It’s kind of hard to soak in the moment. I’ve been here since preschool and I say it all the time in the interviews, I’ve watched so many great football teams roll through the school. I’ve watched guys — John Oppenheimer, Mason Randall, Andrew Daschbach, Ben Burr-Kirven — get to the highest level in state games and unfortunately not be able to come through.
“This opportunity, to be able to play in a state game, is one thing. But being able to finish it is another thing. It’s a testament to our team and the adversity that we’ve had this season.”
SHP (8-7), which previously only sat above .500 after winning its first game, lost seven of the next nine times to close out the regular season.
Yet the Gators never lost faith and strung together an unlikely narrative behind a bullish defense that only allowed six touchdowns over five games in the playoffs and recorded three shutouts, including last week’s NorCal tilt against a previously unbeaten University Prep (Redding).
“This is what we dreamed about,” SHP senior John Adrian Dioli said. “If you told us when we were 3-7 entering the playoffs that we were going to be here today, I would’ve thought you were crazy.
“But here we are.”