Last Friday night the Bellarmine student section held its collective breath as Riordan junior quarterback Zach Masoli prepared to take the snap at the Bellarmine 5-yard line in an eventual 28-10 Bell victory.
Bellarmine led 7-0, but Masoli had just carried twice for a total of 65 yards and had the Crusaders on the cusp of tying the game.
Then Bellarmine's defense rose up and sacked Masoli three consecutive times -- it recorded six sacks for the game -- and Riordan had to settle for a 35-yard field goal.
But the Crusaders' issues along the offensive line don't dismiss the fact Masoli is a talent, reminiscent of his older brother Jeremiah, who is now with the Edmonton Eskimos of the Canadian Football League. Jeremiah Masoli was a star at Serra High, St. Louis High of Hawaii (as a senior), City College of San Francisco and the University of Oregon, where he led the Ducks to the Rose Bowl.
Jeremiah transferred to Mississippi as a senior after some off-field problems at Oregon and continued to excel there.
Zach Masoli showed his own QB chops against the Bells, running for big gains and completing 10-of-17 passes for 132 yards.
"We had to contain him the whole game, and I think we did a decent job of that," Bell running back Joey Sanfilippo said. "I mean, we had him contained and got some sacks on him, which really helped.”
But it's hard to deny the skills of the West Catholic Athletic League Sophomore of the Year, who wears No. 8, just as Jeremiah did when he was at Serra.
This week, the Padre defense gets its shot at Masoli.
"He's the Teflon quarterback," Serra coach Patrick Walsh said. "I feel like I'm watching a video game. He runs left and right and up the middle. He's a fantastic athlete who throws a good ball. We're definitely concerned about his athleticism and his play-making."
Asked if Zach reminds Walsh of Jeremiah, Walsh concurred.
"There are a lot of similarities," he said. "Jeremiah is a great athlete as well, which he's proved at every level. Of course they played in different systems in high school, but they look the same."
Bellarmine coach Mike Janda was impressed with Masoli and the Crusaders in general. Last season the Bells crushed Riordan 56-0. This time Riordan made Bellarmine work quite a bit harder.
The loss was the first of the season for Riordan (3-1 overall, 0-1 West Catholic Athletic League).
“Riordan is first of all very well coached," Janda said. "Next their quarterback is, you know, he’s as good as anybody around here, and they play hard. They played hard from beginning to end, and I give them a lot of credit,”
Masoli has completed 34 of 61 passes this season for 526 yards and eight touchdowns, with three interceptions. He's also run for 191 yards on 37 carries, with four touchdowns.
This week he'll look to improve on those totals when Riordan travels to San Mateo to meet Serra in a rare night game at Brady Family Stadium.
