St. Bernard’s wins big in playoff opener
St. Bernard’s blows out De Anza on road
The Crusaders made a strong statement in their opening playoff game on Saturday night, as St. Bernard’s blew out the De Anza Dons 51-25 on the road. The CIF seeding was surprisingly unfriendly to the Crusaders, who had played a much tougher schedule than the Dons. The Crusaders earned back any lost respect with the big win, and are now primed for a potential upset in the next round of the NCS Division 5 playoffs.
The St. Bernard’s defense capitalized on De Anza’s mistakes as they had five takeaways in the win. Offensively, Drew Sisemore put together a solid night with 225 yards and 2 touchdown passes to receivers Grant Omey and Owen Shanahan. And the Crusaders got extra support from their underclassmen as junior Wyatt Simoni led St. Bernard’s with 85 yards rushing and two touchdowns on the ground.
Next week will surely be a tough matchup for St. Bernard’s as they face the top-seeded San Marin Mustangs. The Mustangs have a solid resume for the year as their only two losses came against the top two teams in Division 4, Marin Catholic and Acalanes. But San Marin has shown vulnerability as they nearly escaped three games this year against lesser competition. Still, it will take nothing short of an elite performance for the Crusaders to pull off the upset.
Hoopa loses to powerhouse St. Vincent de Paul
Hoopa Valley showed tremendous toughness against the top seed in the Division 7 NCS playoffs on Saturday, but the talent of the St. Vincent de Paul Mustangs proved to be too much for the Warriors. The Mustangs controlled the entire game en route to the 28-15 victory.
Hoopa’s defense came ready to play against the explosive St. Vincent de Paul offense, as the Warriors held the Mustangs to just 14 points in the first half. But the offense for Hoopa Valley was unable to get going until it was too late. Down by a score of 21-0 heading into the final quarter, the Warriors got their first touchdown with seven minutes left in the game. But the subsequent onside kick attempt was recovered by the Mustangs, who cruised down the field for another score to put the game out of reach.
It’s a difficult result for an up-and-down season for Hoopa Valley. But the Warriors were consistently competitive in every game they played this season even as they faced much more resourceful and talented opponents. Their four regular-season losses came by a combined 12 points. If the team can win out in a few more close games, the Warriors could be an elite team in Division 7 next year.
Arcata, Fortuna ousted in D-6 playoffs
The two local representatives in the CIF Division 6 playoffs were eliminated swiftly from the NCS bracket on Saturday. Fortuna lost on the road in a competitive game with Pinole Valley, 25-12. The youthful Arcata Tigers lost 42-13 to the top seed in the bracket, the undefeated St. Mary’s Panthers.
For Fortuna, the Huskies were expected to have a chance in the 5-seed versus 4-seed matchup against the Spartans. But Fortuna’s offense struggled against the tough Pinole Valley defense that was coming off a shutout in their last game. The running game of the Spartans proved to be too much as they were in control the whole way en route to a victory.
It was already known that Arcata would have a slim chance to pull of the massive upset against then 10-0 Saint Mary’s in Albany. The Tigers had actually kept things close through the 1st quarter, only down 14-13. But the Panthers struck on a 73yard touchdown pass in the 2nd quarter and immediately followed that up with a 63-yard run as they took control 28-13 and never looked back. Still, the game will be valuable experience for an Arcata team that was mostly playing underclassmen this season. Sophomore quarterback Cody Vandenplas threw for the team’s only two scores, both on touchdown catches by fellow sophomore Oscar Carlson.
With so many young players returning next year after gaining valuable playoff experience, the Arcata Tigers would have to be considered the early favorites to win the Little 4 conference next season.