Sequoia senior Simon Talauati made sure that his Ravens squad would not succumb to Carlmont on Friday night, rushing for 189 yards and three touchdowns to lead his team to a 38-28 victory in the regular season finale.
“All the credit goes to the linemen, they help me move forward and strive for success, and I got 1000 yards this year, all because of the linemen. It was a team effort and they deserve the credit,” Talauati said.
After the teams had been tied at 21 after one half of play, Talauati capped a 67-yard drive to open the third quarter with a seven-yard touchdown run to give Sequoia a 28-21 advantage. Ravens safety Nolan Tarzon then picked off Carlmont sophomore quarterback Tim Netane, setting up a 39-yard field goal by Sequoia kicker Cristian Cisneros for a 10-point lead with just over four minutes remaining in the third quarter.
Talauati added a 14-yard scoring run in the fourth quarter for a 38-21 lead before Carlmont senior Jonaven Kuhn stopped the bleeding a bit with his 14-yard catch-and-run for a score late in the fourth for the final points of the night.
“We are more consistent now, and early in the year we had a lot of seniors but not a lot of experience, and we only had a few kids who had significant minutes last year,” said Sequoia head coach Rob Poulos. “There was a lack of confidence, and it was hard to stop where things went wrong because the kids weren’t used to success.”
Although it was an unfortunate loss in what was the Carlmont seniors' last football game as a Scot, it was only fitting that Kuhn led the team in both rushing and receiving yards, as well as Wes Brown, a senior, who caught his sixth touchdown reception of the season.
Kuhn ran for 91 yards on ten carries, as well as adding five receptions for 72 yards and a touchdown.
The Scots opened up the scoring in the first half, capping off a 70-yard drive with a 17-yard touchdown catch by Brown.
The Ravens seemed to have a quick response when quarterback Kyle Parker, a junior, ran the ball 89-yards for a touchdown, but it was called back due to a holding. However, Parker still scored on a 16-yard rush later in the drive.
Carlmont took the lead back on a one-yard rush by Dane Fifita, a sophomore, but just as soon as they took the lead, they lost it when Sequoia scored on the kickoff return by Steven Stone, a junior.
“All it took was teamwork, just like how in school you do group work. Everybody pitches in and everybody knows their job,” Talauati said. “Over the year we all became closer and we started calling each other brother’s at the second game; we all love each other and we’re all family.”
Just before halftime, each team tacked on another seven points, with Carlmont scoring on a two-yard touchdown run by Fifita, and Sequoia scoring on a one-yard run by Talauati, his first of three scores on the night.
“We had mistakes that we could’ve fixed, but we messed up mentally and we weren’t prepared. The coaches did everything they could and we fought hard,” Fifita said. “We played physical but not physical enough and we couldn’t take down Talauati. The physicality wasn’t there and they just took advantage of it.”
The Scots finished the season 3-7, a bit of a disappointment after last year’s playoff season.
“All of the kids that made it through and toughed it out, fought until the very end, and I was really proud of them. We had a ton of guys injured and playing in backup roles and they did their very best. That’s all you can ask for,” said Carlmont head coach Jake Messina.
The Ravens finished 5-5 and were able to recapture the Terremere trophy from the Scots.
Terremere Cup
The Ravens took back the Terremere Cup after losing it in a tight 14-7 game last season. The win over the Scots gives the Ravens a 34-31 advantage in wins, with one tie.
"I love the win for the seniors, it's so hard when you lose it so to be the guys to bring it back is something special. We played Woodside earlier in the year and a trophy was involved and this group was able to bring the first trophy home and now the second trophy home," Poulos said. "Carlmont came out hard and it was a good battle, and watching the flow back-and-forth and having a battle like this made the win more satisfying."
