All six 11-man San Diego Section football champions qualified for the state regional playoffs, among them Division I champion Mater Dei Catholic.
The Crusaders were returning to familiar territory after winning last year’s Division 2-AA championship, and they’ll get the opportunity again this Friday when they match up against Northern California regional champion Oakland McClymonds at 4 p.m. at Saddleback College.
Mater Dei Catholic will play for the Division 2-AA state championship for the second consecutive year after shading host Downey, 22-21, in last Friday’s Southern California regional championship game.
The Crusaders (10-4) rallied from 14-0 and 21-8 first-half deficits to nip the Vikings at the end. The Metro-Mesa League champions, winners of 10 consecutive games after a 0-4 start, will face a McClymonds team that is 12-1.
Last Friday’s game was both figuratively and literally a game of two halves.
When Downey’s offense stalled, Mater Dei Catholic’s offense rose to the occasion. The Crusaders mixed in with some timely defense to keep the momentum going.
Senior quarterback Aidan Chiles, with 36 touchdowns to his credit this season, had the Southern Section Division IV champion Vikings plundering early on. He connected with senior Bryant Carey for a 40-yard touchdown for the game’s first score. Carey scored Downey’s second touchdown on a 16-yard sweep to stake the hosts to an early 14-0 lead.
Chiles later hit senior Ian Hernandez for a 35-yard touchdown at the start of the second quarter to triple the lead to 21-0.
Ominous but not impossible as Mater Dei Catholic had been in that position before, trailing Mission Hills, 20-7, in the Division I section title game before pulling out a miraculous 34-29 championship victory over the top-seeded Grizzlies with 20 points in the final quarter.
The Crusaders recorded a defensive safety when sophomore punter Logan Bledsoe was tackled in the end zone after a snap soared over this head.
The visitors added a touchdown late in the second quarter on a passing play from senior quarterback Dominic Nankil to UCLA commit Jerry McClure. They then scored on a one-yard running play in the third quarter by junior Anthony McMillian to trim the deficit to 21-15.
Two Mater Dei Catholic interceptions down in the game’s stretch run proved key to the dramatic come-from-behind victory.
Senior defensive back D.J. Overstreet picked off a trick play to hand the ball back to Nankil, who lofted an 86-yard pass to Rollin George to set up McMillian’s second touchdown of the game from four yards out to finally push the Division I San Diego Section champions over the edge.
Miscues by the hosts eventually led to their demise. Downey fumbled a pooch punt by Mater Dei Catholic on the ensuing kick-off and another interception by Overstreet in the waning seconds sealed the deal when it appeared the Vikings (12-3) were nearing field goal range for a potential victory.
22-21 Crusaders. Deja vu all over again.
The six-foot-four Chiles, who is bound for Oregon State, passed for 254 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for 32 yards on four carries to lead the Vikings.
Carey had five catches for 101 receiving yards.
McMillian had two rushing touchdowns to go with the two he had in the section championship game. He rushed 19 times for 73 yards in the win over Downey.
Nankil completed 13 of 24 passes for 180 yards with one touchdown and two picks against the Vikings. He also rushed five times for 31 yards.
George rushed four times for 103 yards, gaining the bulk of the Crusaders’ 180 rushing yards.
Overall, Downey out-gained Mater Dei Catholic 361-292 in total offensive yards.
Going for gold
Besides Mater Dei Catholic, Open Division champion Lincoln (12-1), Division II champion Granite Hills (12-2) and Division V champion Classical Academy (11-3) all won their regional playoff game last weekend to play for state titles this weekend.
Lincoln defeated Sierra Canyon, 37-14, last Friday while Classical Academy defeated Lancaster 34-14. Granite Hills upended visiting Etiwanda, 41-21, to secure its first trip to a state championship game.
Senior Roderick Robinson rushed for 181 yards and scored four touchdowns to lead the Hornets, who will tackle De La Salle (10-3) in Friday’s Division 1-AA state final (8 p.m. kickoff).
Lincoln erupted for 27 points in the third quarter to expand on a narrow 10-7 halftime lead.
Robinson is averaging 166.2 rushing yards per game and has scored 33 rushing touchdowns this year.
Granite Hills (12-2) takes an eight-game winning streak into its Saturday’s noon match-up against the San Ramona Wolves (12-2) in the 2-A title contest.
Eagles head coach Kellan Cobbs said it’s been “a special run with a great group of kids.”
“The defense and run game were really working for us,” Cobbs said after the win over Etiwanda. “We had 336 yards on the ground and created five turnovers. Any time we are able to do that we will have success.”
Granite Hills did all the scoring in the first half in building a 21-0 lead.
The teams exploded for 27 points in the third quarter with the visitors holding a 14-13 scoring edge to narrow the host Eagles lead to 34-14. Both teams scored one touchdown in the final quarter.
Granite Hills rolled up 416 yards in total offense in the victory with two passing touchdowns and four rushing touchdowns.
Sophomore Isaiah Jackson (12 carries, 104 yards) and senior Zak Darling (eight carries, 91 yards) both scored twice on the ground while senior Parlan Sanders completed four of five passing attempts for 105 yards with scoring strikes to senior Joaquin Thomas Jr. (one catch, 72 yards) and senor Colin Riley (one catch, six yards).
Sanders recorded 157 total offensive yards (52 rushing, 105 passing) to lead the reigning Grossmont Hills League champions in that department while Darling accounted for 115 total offensive yards (91 rushing, 24 receiving).
Junior Jordan Glaze keyed the Granite Hills defense with 10 tackles while three players each recorded eight stops: seniors Derek Ibarra and Easton Peterson and junior Tyler Bertalan.
The Eagles recorded two sacks — one each by junior Damarrion White and senior Brayden Becker. Granite Hills also had three interceptions in the game — one each by seniors Tyler Black and Daniel Netto and junior Nokoi Maddox, who returned his pick 41 yards. Junior Rowan Hatnes had one fumble recovery.
Classical will play Santa Teresa (9-5) in Saturday’s 6-AA championship game.
Senior Thomas Hinrichs had one rushing touchdown while senior Trevor Allen nailed four extra-point conversions and two field goals to lif the Caimans. Senior Life Pollard keyed Classical with 91 all-purpose yards.
University City (11-3) lost a high-scoring game, 49-45, last Friday at San Jacinto (13-2) in the Division III regional while Palo Verde Valley (13-2) dropped a 33-7 home game to Muir (9-6) last Friday in Division IV action.
SDSU’s Browning named Mountain Wes Special Teams Player of the Year
From staff reports
San Diego State University’s football team is headed to the Hawaii Bowl on Dec. 24. The Aztecs will be traveling with the recently named Mountain Wes Conference Special Teams Player of the Year after West Hills High School and Grossmont College alumnus Jack Browning was accorded honors following the conclusion of regular season play.
SDSU carries a 7-5 record into the upcoming bowl game against Middle Tennessee (7-5). Browning’s numbers have added up to nothing short of excellence.
Handling all three kicking duties, Browning has made 17 of his 21 field goal attempts and all 28 point-after-touchdown conversions to lead the Aztecs with 79 points — more than the next three players combined.
Browning has also punted 63 times for 2,898 yards (46.0 average) with a net average of 42.7 yards and a long of 63 yards. Out of his 63 punts, 28 have landed inside the 20-yard line, including 14 inside the 10 and six inside the 5. Browning also has kicked off 53 times for 3,394 yards (64.0 average) with 31 touchbacks.
According to Pro Football Focus, Browning has the best punt grade (87.2) in the country.
Browning, who ranks third in SDSU single-season history in punt average (46.00), seventh in field goal percentage (80.95) and tied for seventh in field goals (17), is tied for the FBS lead in PAT percentage (100.00), and is tied for fourth in punts inside the 20-yard line (28, first in MW), sixth in net punt average (42.67, first in MW), eighth in punt average (46.00, first in MW), tied for 11th in kickoff average (64.04, first in MW), and tied for 24th in field goals per game (1.42, fourth in MW) and made field goals (17, tied for third in MW).
An Aztec has won the special teams player of the year award five times (all over the last eight years), the most in the 24-year history of MW.
For a fourth consecutive year, SDSU had the most first-team all-MW selections with seven, three more than Fresno State and San Jose State’s four. The Aztecs also had the most combined first and second teamers (11) and the most all-conference selections overall (16). The 16 all-league selections for the Aztecs tied a program best (also 2001).
Making the first team were offensive lineman Alama Uluave, Jordan Byrd at both kick and punt returner, defensive lineman Jonah Tavai, linebacker Caden McDonald, safety Patrick McMorris and Browning at punter.
On the second team for SDSU were wide receiver Tyrell Shavers, tight end Mark Redman, offensive lineman Cade Bennett and linebacker Michael Shawcroft (Helix).
San Diego State also had five honorable mentions, including quarterback Jalen Mayden, wide receiver Jesse Matthews (Christian), defensive lineman Keshawn Banks, and cornerbacks Dez Malone and Dallas Branch.
Shawcroft led the Aztecs with 77 total tackles in 11 games with 45 first hits, 32 assists, 12 tackles for a loss, 5.5 sacks and one forced fumble.
Matthews had 38 catches for 409 yards and three touchdowns to rank second on the team in receiving yards and tied for first (with Tyrell Shavers and Mekhi Shaw) for most touchdowns.
The all-conference awards are voted on by the league’s 12 head coaches and various media members from the league.
