SAN MATEO – For eight long seconds, the wind whipped sheets of light rain over San Mateo High’s MaryAnn Johnson Memorial Field as 22 football players sought an answer that would decide a league championship.
Finally, a signal from the line judge broke the silence. Sequoia had broken the goal line.
A collective scream erupted from the Sequoia bench as the Ravens players and coaches bounded onto the field. They hugged and tackled one another. Some just collapsed in boundless emotion.
Jordan Crockett’s one-yard plunge in overtime gave Sequoia a 13-7 victory and at least a share of the Peninsula Athletic League’s Ocean Division title, ensuring the Ravens will own their first league championship since 2010.
San Mateo’s Logan Davis (11) jumps over Sequoia’s Randy Nunez (22) and past Sequoia’s Nolan Fausto (14) in the fourth quarter at San Mateo High School in San Mateo, Calif., on Friday, Nov. 1, 2024. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group)
Despite an 0-4 start, Sequoia (5-4 overall, 4-0 league) has bounced back to come within a victory on Friday against intra-district rival Carlmont to win the league outright. San Mateo is waiting (7-2, 4-1) for a chance to tear off a portion of the league banner if the Ravens fail.
When Sequoia’s celebration subsided, first-year head coach Frank Mems, a Sequoia graduate who played at NCAA Division III Hamline University in St. Paul, Minnesota, finally had his say as his team gathered in front of him.
“It was going to be a dogfight,” Mems told his players. “We knew what it was going to come down to. We’re the only ones not surprised we’re here.”
Sequoia was dialed in to stop the San Mateo triple-option flexbone attack that averaged 331 yards on the ground. If safeties Marco Baisch and Nolan Fausto could fire down the alleys on each play, the Ravens might have a chance to cut off the flanks and shore up the inside runs as well.
“We’ve struggled with offenses like this,” Mems said. “Upon me getting the position, we knew we were going to play these run-heavy teams this fall. Let’s really come up with a plan that will work against it. That’s why our safeties had to be disciplined. When they see it, they have to shoot it and not second guess it.”
Sequoia’s Shawn Royer (7) hands the ball to Sequoia’s Jordan Crockett V (5) in the first quarter at San Mateo High School in San Mateo, Calif., on Friday, Nov. 1, 2024. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group)
Behind quarterback Cameron Palma, San Mateo can run inside or outside, but this time got neither. San Mateo totaled 136 yards on 42 carries and was held to 158 offensive yards altogether.
E.J. Fitzgerald, the main inside threat who came in with 824 yards rushing, was held to 41, largely because Sequoia defensive tackles Lesoni Olive and Aedan Macias refused to be moved on the line, plugging the gaps and allowing linebackers and safeties to make plays.
Olive sensed the Bearcats getting frustrated and could hear it in their voices, he said. With each …read more
Source:: The Mercury News – Entertainment