I don't know if I'll see the Oakland Raiders win a game again in my lifetime, but I do know this about the CCS prep football scene:
THOSE TOUCHDOWNS, THEY ALL COUNT: Spin-doctoring is part of what keeps football message boards alive.
About a month ago one fan took to the Internet to explain that although his team lost by a bundle on a particular day, only three of the scores were against the defense and the other two were return scores. Newsflash: All those TDs count.
Let's take Serra's 28-14 victory Saturday against Bellarmine. One Padre score was set up by a blocked punt that put the offense deep in Bell territory. Another TD came on a fumble recovery near the goal line that was taken across for the score. For that matter, Bellarmine's second TD came on a 70-yard punt return.
They all count. Special teams and defense count. Both the Bells and Padres get it, but not everyone does.
"The only stat that matters is the one underneath the teams' names on the scoreboard," Serra coach Patrick Walsh said. "I think it's awesome if our program has gotten to the point where people are picking us apart about how we won the title. Twenty years from now nobody is going to look at the banner in the gym and wonder how it gone done."
Almost in the same breath, Walsh said his team cannot continue to commit turnovers and expect to win, calling it a "failing business model." Serra had four turnovers against the Bells resulting in no points as the turnovers occurred in Bellarmine territory and the visitors had difficulty moving the ball.
Against another team, four turnovers might not be such a great idea. The Padres have been intercepted 19 times this season and have lost nine fumbles. But Serra's defense has risen up with more than three sacks per game and 10 fumble recoveries overall.
IT'S NEVER SAY DIE ON COASTLINE: Half Moon Bay has had an uneven football history but the Cougars have always had gutsy, never-quit players, dating back to the 1970s when Jerry Murphy was the coach and "Cougar Cookies" were sold at the snack bar.
Friday night was another example. HMB remarkably rallied from a 16-point deficit entering the fourth quarter by scoring a ridiculous 30 points in 12 minutes to stun rival Terra Nova 49-48 in the Skull Game.
Quarterback Shane Action led HMB by accounting for 301 total yards -- 150 passing and 151 rushing.
Anthony DeMartini scored the game-tying points on fourth-and-goal from the 1 on an option pitch. Pierre Salinas kicked the game-winning PAT.
And Terra Nova QB Anthony Gordon? He merely completed 24-of-29 passes for 383 yards and three scores with one interception. Gordon now has 35 TD passes this season, snapping the tie of 32 scoring tosses he shared with his uncle Greg Reynolds, the professional baseball pitcher.
But the real story was HMB's dramatic win and its aftermath.
"There was a lot of hugging and screaming and it took about three minutes for the teams to to line up for the handshakes," an HMB source said. "Half Moon Bay was all giddy and Terra Nova was depressed. Then one of the kids took the water bucket and (HMB coach) Keith Holden said 'OK, I know what's coming.' And they dropped it on him. Then things really got nuts as Shane Action grabbed one of the flags with a Cougar head (emblazoned on it) and ran down to the south end zone and was waving it and all of his teammates followed him."
Acton and the Cougars toured the field a bit and basked in the afterglow -- and you couldn't blame them.
In the three games leading up to this one, TN had outscored the Cougars by a combined 139-15, including a 56-0 pummeling last season.
Both teams are in the playoffs. TN meets Carmel at 7 p.m. Saturday at Pacific Grove. HMB is at The King's Academy at 7 p.m. Friday.
VALLEY CHRISTIAN PEAKING: The Warriors were thought by many to be the team to beat in the WCAL and delivered on that promise, tying Serra for the title. But coach Mike Machado's team was not without its struggles, as it fell to both Milpitas and Serra by 14 points early in the season.
The Warriors were missing a few behemoths against Milpitas, were mostly healthy against Serra but missed star running back Kirk Johnson for a few games during league. Still, they've been posting wins -- six in a row now including narrow victories against St. Francis (21-14 in overtime), St. Ignatius (17-15) and Mitty (15-14).
Tre McCloud did a nice job taking over for Johnson in the games Johnson missed due to injury. Also shining was VC quarterback Michael Machado (son of the coach) who led some clutch scoring drives in that trio of close WCAL wins.
"We've had a good season and we were able to pull out some close games and that was good for us character-wise," Warriors coach Michael Machado said after Sunday's CCS seeding meeting.
Next up for the Warriors is another difficult test in Palma at 7 p.m. at Salinas' Rabobank Stadium. The Chieftains have played WCAL teams often in non-league over the years and defeated host St. Francis 21-12 in Game 2 this season.
MILPITAS, OH MY: How else to describe the Trojans who are now 10-0 after a 56-0 victory against Santa Clara. Coach Kelly King's team is now preparing for a first-round game at 7 p.m. Friday against visiting Bellarmine, the third-place team from the WCAL.
Just a typical effort last week for Milpitas against the Bruins with two interception returns for touchdowns by Christian Rita, a 58-yard TD reception by Rita and two TD runs from Sean Barnes just for starters. Milpitas led Santa Clara 42-0 at halftime. Can anyone beat these guys?
The Trojans outscored six SCVAL-De Anza opponents by a combined 269 to 31 and are No. 2 in this week's CalHiSports.com Bay Area rankings.
Well, Valley Christian hung with the Trojans for a long time in a non-league game and Los Gatos took Milpitas down to the wire even with a banged up Joey Wood, so the Trojans are at least a little bit human. We'll see what happens.
LOS GATOS READY FOR A RUN: Speaking of healthy players, it looks like still another formerly ailing back (Los Gatos' Wood) has a spring in his step now as he rolled for 109 yards and two touchdowns Friday night in a 28-13 win against Wilcox. Wood missed a few games in the second half of the season due to a sprained ankle and was hobbled against Milpitas and limited to around 50 yards.
Los Gatos has a balanced offense (junior Dru Brown passed for 162 yards against Wilcox) and is stout on defense. The Wildcats will have to get by WCAL co-champ Serra on Saturday at Brady Family Stadium which is a tough place to play. But LG has already knocked off a team (Mitty) that defeated Serra, so it's not likely to be intimidated.
"They're well-coached -- Mark Krail does a great job and has championship teams everywhere he goes, so it's no surprise he's continued the tradition of (previous coach) Butch Cattalico," Serra coach Walsh said. "They're efficient, have a great quarterback and a multiple scheme and that's a problem. Joey Wood runs downhill and play-action can be devastating for a defense so it will test our discipline all game long."
Said Krail: "We're excited about the match-up with Serra. They're a great program and we're going to have our hands full. But we're going to show up and see what we can do."
ALSO HEALTHY, SO WATCH OUT: Not only are backs like Kirk Johnson (Valley Christian), Wood (Los Gatos) and Kava Cassidy (Serra) ready to roll now, but Mr. Ben Burr-Kirven at Sacred Heart Prep is feeling spry these days, judging by his most recent game.
Burr-Kirven scored five touchdowns in a 35-14 win against rival Menlo on Friday night at Woodside High in the "Battle of Valparaiso Ave."
The Washington commit caught a 74-yard TD pass from Mason Randall in the first quarter and ran for TDs of 1, 39, 5 and 5 yards as the Gators turned a 7-7 game at halftime into a comfortable win.
That's great news for SHP which made the state playoff bowl title game last season and had Burr-Kirven listed on the Cal-Hi Sports pre-season all-state team.
"He's definitely great to have back in full force," Randall said. "When he can play some downs for us on offense and every down on defense and play at the level that he does, it's fun to watch and comforting to have on both sides of the ball for sure. He makes everyone around him better and that's what really makes him so great."
HE'S NOT JUST GOOD, HE'S GRRR... : Westmont has flourished under new coach Mark Kaanapu, the former Watsonville High assistant who was previously a head coach at Live Oak, Menlo College and Merced JC. The Warriors are 9-1 overall now and went 6-1 in the BVAL-Santa Teresa to tie Live Oak for the title.
Westmont does not list statistics on MaxPreps, but anyone paying attention knows running back Jakob Good is having a big season. He had three TD runs last Friday night in a 23-19 victory against Sobrato.
"I think (Westmont) is very big and that Jakob Good should change his name to Jakob Great," Leland coach Jake Shaughnessy mused. "They're damned good and you expect that -- they're 9-1 for a reason."
Westmont hosts Leland on Friday night at 7 p.m. in a CCS Division II first-round game.
