ATHERTON - Led by running back Tevita Moimoi’s two-score day, Sacred Heart Prep blew by Carlmont in its season opener, as the Gators fought their way to a 28-7 victory.
The Gators’ other two scores came off a 37-yard reception by Dante Cacchione, a senior, and a seven-yard run by Bryant Gavello, also a senior. Moimoi, another senior leader, scored on 25-yard and seven-yard rushes. The Scots’ lone touchdown came when junior Si’i Tengei caught a pass and ran it into the end zone.
The Gators received the opening kickoff from Carlmont and immediately got to work, starting from their own 28-yard line. After three quick runs brought the Gators out to the 40, a 20-yard pass to Gavello put them over midfield and into Scots’ territory. A few plays later and a 17-yard catch by Wilson Weisel, a senior, quickened the Gators pace. The Gators' momentum was stopped when Tatafu Mahoni, a senior, coughed up the football which was recovered by the Scots.
Starting off on their own 10-yard line, the Scots ran into some trouble when a false start pushed them back five yards. Their drive stalled and they punted the ball to their own 37-yard line, giving the Gators a short field to play on.
The Gators capitalized on their great field position, immediately scoring on Cacchione’s 37-yard reception. The successful PAT put the Gators up 7-0 with 6:36 left to play in the first.
After a touchback, the Scots started off on their own 20, but another false start pushed them back to the 15. The Scots posted their second straight three-and-out and were forced to punt the ball away.
The Gators started in Carlmont territory again, and moved the ball up the field with a first down run by Gavello and then catch by Cacchione. The next three plays brought the Gators up with a third-and-inches, deep in Carlmont territory. The Gators went for it but the ball carrier was stopped short of the line, causing the Scots to take over on their own 10 and call a timeout with 1:25 left in the first quarter.
The Scots got their first 1st down of the game on an 18-yard run by Jonaven Kuhn, a senior. The Scots weren’t able to get much else going and punted away once again, ending the first quarter.
The Gators opened up the second quarter with a long pass to Cacchione who was tackled at Calmont’s seven by Wes Brown, a senior. The Gators then went up 14-0 with 11:32 to play in the half on a rushing touchdown by Gavello.
Another touchback set the Scots up at their own 20, where they posted their third three-and-out of the game after sophomore quarterback Timothy Netane was sacked by Thomas Hardy.
The Gators' next drive didn’t yield much for them offensively. A sack of quarterback Teddy Purcell, a junior, and an offensive encroachment call pushed them back to a 3rd-and-21. Gavello came close to gaining a first down but stepped out of bounds just short. The Gators went for it on 4th-and-4 but were to no avail as an incomplete pass turned the ball over to the Scots.
The Scots had their best field position of the first half yet posted another three-and-out as a stout Gator defense held strong. The punt was nearly blocked before it was downed at the Sacred Heart 39-yard line.
The Gators moved up the field quickly, heavily relying on Moimoi in both the run and pass game. The drive was capped off when Moimoi scampered around the edge for a 25-yard rushing touchdown, putting the Gators up by 21 with two minutes remaining in the half.
“Our lineman may not be the biggest guys on the field, but they’ll hit you in the mouth, they’ll be fast off the ball, and they’re smart off the ball, and they allow me to do my work because if they’re doing their job I can do my job,” Moimoi said.
Carlmont’s ensuing drive stalled, allowing the Gators to call a timeout before receiving the punt with 1:09 left to play.
The Gators moved up the field slowly but surely and rubbed off a sack of Purcell to get to the Scots' 32-yard line and call a timeout with a few seconds left. The half ended with kicker Ronan Donnelly, a senior, missing the field goal.
\The Scots started off the third quarter in a similar fashion to how the rest of the game went and punted the ball back to the Gators after barely moving up the field.
The Gators picked up right where they left off, with Moimoi being tackled by Kuhn after gaining 19. Their momentum was stopped after a flag set them back 5 yards and Matt Vo, a senior, made two tackles for losses, including a sack of Purcell. The Gators were forced to punt but the snap sailed way over the punter’s head, and he was pushed out of bounds for a turnover.
The Scots were unable to capitalize on their great fortune, however, as they fumbled the ball which was recovered by Conor York, a junior.
Unlike the Scots, the Gators were able to capitalize off the turnover, driving down the field and relying on the run game once more, scoring with a seven-yard rushing touchdown by Moimoi.
“It’s important, managing the run game, and obviously we lost our fullbacks last year, and it’s nice to have my cousin step up as fullback and help me out, and it kinda brings back nostalgia to the 2015 team,” Moimoi said.
The Scots put together their best drive of the game, converting a fourth down with a 37-yard pass to Kuhn. The third quarter ended with the Scots deep into Gator territory, and they finally put points on the board on a Tengei rushing touchdown, putting the score at 28-7.
The two teams wouldn’t see much action in the remaining quarter, and the Gators kneeled to end the game as victors by a score of 28-7.
“It’s a huge thing when you can come out and win the first game of the year, Carlmont is a good football team their program is on the rise and every year they get better, but we got better too and it was nice to get a win against a good football team and start the year out in the win column,” said Sacred Heart Prep head coach Mark Grieb.
While the Gators picked up as if they hadn’t lost a beat since the last season, the Scots struggled a bit in the opener.
“We had a couple of guys that are gimpy right now and that were out, and it was tough to play without them because we aren’t deep enough to do that just yet, but overall the guys played tough and we hung in there and the Gators are a very good football team,” said Carlmont head coach Jake Messina.
The Gators' next matchup is a home game against St. Ignatius, who is 1-0 after defeating Palo Alto. Carlmont plays at Woodside, who is 0-1 after being blown out 40-20 by Sequoia.
