Week 9 marked one of the best weekends for San Francisco high school football in recent memory, with St. Ignatius beating Mitty in the final seconds and Sacred Heart Cathedral beating Bellarmine. In the Academic Athletic Association (AAA), Washington beat Balboa to set up a showdown with Lincoln to decide first place.
Lincoln Mustangs 27, Lowell Cardinals 16
A pair of red zone stops made the difference as Lincoln (5-3, 4-0 Academic Athletic Association) held off Lowell (1-5, 1-2 AAA) to remain in a tie for first place ahead of next week’s Bell Game at Washington. Jamelle Newman ran for a pair of scores for the Mustangs, who also got a 55-yard dash on a quarterback keeper by Michael Simmons and a 66-yard kick return touchdown by Andre Petrilli. The visiting Cardinals took an 8-6 lead in the second quarter on Tomas La Sala’s touchdown and cut the Mustang lead to 21-16 in the third on Angelo Ornelas’ run before Petrilli immediately answered.
Mission Bears 53, Burton Pumas 6
The Bears earned their first win of the year in lopsided fashion, playing the second half with a running clock. Josiah Herrera scored twice, Morris Jefferson ran for an 80-yard score, the trio of Diego Ramirez, Kharrie Baker and Malieke Delaney scored their first touchdowns of the year, and both Taevon Mitchell and Zaden Cato found the end zone again for Mission (1-5, 1-2 AAA) in the winning effort. Burton (0-4, 0-3 AAA) scored its first offensive touchdown of the year on Anthony Navarro’s pass to Rodrigo Bermudez.
Sacred Heart Cathedral Fightin’ Irish 30, Bellarmine Bells 17
RL Miller authored an unforgettable performance on Senior Night, scoring three touchdowns as the Fightin’ Irish upended the Bells. Miller caught a 20-yard strike from Aidan McGrath, returned an interception 46 yards to the house and swiped an option pitch out of midair for a 34-yard fumble return in the third quarter as Sacred Heart Cathedral (5-3, 3-2 West Catholic Athletic League) beat the Bells for just the fourth time in school history. Bellarmine (3-5, 2-3) was without quarterback Parker Threatt and running backs Ben Pfaff and Riley Paran.
On Tuesday, Sacred Heart Cathedral head coach Antoine Evans was named Scorebook Live’s California High School Coach of the Week for Week 8, when the Fightin’ Irish defeated St. Ignatius in the Bruce-Mahoney Game.
Serra Padres 36, Valley Christian Warriors 7
The Padres cruised to victory on Polynesian Day, opening up a 36-0 halftime lead before the second half was played with a running clock. Maealiuaki Smith threw for five touchdowns for Serra (8-0, 5-0 WCAL). Valley Christian (1-7, 0-5) avoided a shutout on sophomore Justice Matthews’ scoop-and-score.
St. Francis Lancers 38, Riordan Crusaders 0
Riordan (3-5, 1-4 WCAL) suffered a fourth straight defeat and finished on the wrong end of a running clock for the second game in a row. Keala Keanaaina and Bryce Luna combined for 170 rushing yards for St. Francis (5-3, 4-1), and Declan Quinn returned a fumble for a 58-yard touchdown in the third quarter. Mikatoa Scanlan had two tackles for loss for the Crusaders.
St. Ignatius Wildcats 24, Mitty Monarchs 21
The St. Ignatius Wildcats finally performed in all three phases of the game at the same time, which culminated in a stunning 24-21 win over the Monarchs at Foothill College. Cooper Lucey’s 18-yard field goal with a second remaining sealed the win for St. Ignatius (3-5, 2-3 WCAL), and sophomore quarterback Soren Hummel threw for three touchdowns, including a 65-yard strike to Moe Barnum. The SI rushing attack also turned in its best game of the season, with Cameron Jones running for 96 yards. Danny Scudero caught two touchdowns for Mitty (6-2, 3-2).
Washington Eagles 22, Balboa Buccaneers 0
Sam Dunn, nephew of famed NFL linebacker Bill Romanowski, had three tackles for loss, a pair of sacks and a forced fumble as Washington (7-1, 4-0 AAA) shut out Balboa to remain tied atop the standings. Ayan Razzak and Tommy Mayfield-Commer each ran for touchdowns for the victorious Eagles, and James Mertz threw a touchdown to Felix Mamrikov before leaving with a knee injury. Omar Blanco, Noah DeGroat and Christian Menjivar each recorded interceptions for Balboa (3-5, 2-2).
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Los Gatos beat Wilcox 28-7, securing no worse than a share of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League De Anza Division championship and putting the Wildcats in position for a high seed in the Central Coast Section (CCS) Division I bracket. Wil Brennan caught two long touchdowns for Los Gatos (6-2, 4-0 SCVAL De Anza), one from quarterback Jake Boyd and the other from wide receiver Jaylen Thomas on a trick play. Wilcox (7-1, 3-1) scored on Elijah Walker’s first-quarter touchdown run.
Gio Gutierrez’s 30-yard field goal with a second remaining gave Palma a 24-21 win over Aptos at Rabobank Stadium, giving the Chieftains sole possession of first place in the Pacific Coast Athletic League Gabilan Division. Gutierrez’s 43-yard try earlier in the drive was blocked, but a penalty on Aptos (6-2, 3-1 PCAL Gabilan) gave the sophomore another chance. Palma (7-1, 4-0) tied the game on Thomas Nunes’ touchdown pass to Logan Saldate, and got a huge stop in the red zone on Drew Molinari’s interception. Palma visits Salinas (7-1, 3-1) on Nov. 4 for a game that should will likely decide the PCAL Gabilan crown.
Burlingame (4-4, 2-2 Peninsula Athletic League Bay Division) upset Half Moon Bay (6-2, 2-2) on the road, 29-27. The Panthers faced an early 14-0 deficit but took a 29-21 lead on Danny Hilt’s 17-yard touchdown run and Liam Friedman’s two-point conversion pass to Dylan Kall. The Cougars fired back on a 26-yard pass from Owen Miller, playing quarterback in place of the injured Liam Harrington, to Dio Lucido, but Jack Fleming intercepted HMB’s attempt to tie the game. Ayden Courtney recovered the ensuing onside kick to give the hosts one last chance, but Kall’s interception with 24 seconds left sealed the road victory and helped the Panthers inch closer to a playoff berth.
Oregon commit Jurrion Dickey missed a fourth straight game with a knee injury, but Menlo-Atherton (5-3, 3-1 PAL Bay) still beat Menlo 24-14. Sherrod Smith and 5-foot-9, 270-pound cannonball Jordan Masuisui each ran for over 100 yards for the Bears. Quarterback Jake Bianchi accounted for both scores for visiting Menlo (4-4, 1-2), one on a shovel pass to Ty Richardson and the other on a more conventional 32-yard throw to Robby Enright in the fourth quarter.
Backup quarterback Erick Waugh rose to the occasion as Hillsdale (4-4, 2-2 Peninsula Athletic League Ocean Division) won 27-6 on Senior Night over visiting Capuchino (4-4, 2-2). Waugh completed 16 of 26 passes for 254 yards and three touchdowns, two of which went to Drew Rollolazo.
First place in the Blossom Valley Athletic League’s Mount Hamilton Division belongs to Live Oak (7-1, 3-0 BVAL Mount Hamilton) after a convincing 42-14 win at previously unbeaten Lincoln-San Jose (7-1, 2-1). Jordan Fuentes ran 33 times for 253 yards, caught three passes for 25 yards and accounted for four touchdowns for the victorious Acorns.
Christian Aguilar threw for 331 yards as Clayton Valley (5-3, 3-0 East Bay Athletic League Mountain Division) won its fourth straight, 49-14 over California-San Ramon (5-3, 1-1). Aguilar completed 18 of his 21 attempts as the Ugly Eagles played most of the second half with the benefit of a running clock.
De La Salle (5-3) led 28-0 at halftime and rolled to a 41-3 win over visiting Monte Vista (2-6), capped off by Robert Santiago’s 86-yard pick-six.
Liberty (5-3, 2-1 Bay Valley Athletic League) posted a second straight convincing win, 35-6 at Antioch (3-5, 1-2). Nate Bell completed just five passes for the Lions, but three of them went for touchdowns
Other San Francisco Sports News
University (22-5) lost just one set across 12 Bay Counties League West Division volleyball matches, winning both the regular season and league tournament titles. The Red Devils beat Urban (15-8) in straight sets on Friday night after the Blues had upset Marin Academy (22-12) in five sets in Wednesday’s semifinal. The Devils received the third seed in the North Coast Section (NCS) Division 3 Tournament and will host 14th-seeded Alhambra (10-11) tonight. Marin Academy is the top seed in Division 4, while Urban holds the top spot in Division 5. The D5 field will see a BCL Central rematch in the first round as seventh-seeded Drew (9-9) faces No. 10 International (11-8) at the Booker T. Washington Community Center on Tuesday.
After being swept by Mitty (26-6, 8-1 WCAL) on Thursday, Sacred Heart Cathedral (16-11, 2-7) rebounded on Saturday by winning Bracket B at Milpitas Spikefest II, including three-set victories over Santa Cruz and Branham. St. Ignatius (14-16, 4-5) swept Presentation (4-21, 0-9) Thursday night on the road. Mitty and St. Francis (27-0, 9-0) will meet in San Jose to decide the league title on Tuesday.