SAN JOSE - The St. Francis Lancers ran through the rain and through the Archbishop Mitty Monarchs defense en route to a 17-7 victory in the CCS Division II Championship game at Westmont High School on Friday night.
And near the end of the game the Lancers' most inspiring player, Riley Quinn, punctuated the victory with arguably one of the most special moments of the 2014 California prep football season.
The Lancers had to adjust their game plan in the first quarter after junior starting quarterback Kamalii Akina went down with an apparent leg injury and did not return. Senior Steven Dinneen and sophomore Garrett McCarthy both took snaps at quarterback for the rest of the game.
What resulted was plenty of running the ball -- the Lancers ran 56 times and only attempted five passes. The Lancers used three running backs, seniors Dennis Green and Devin Hurtado and junior Lutoviko Ahoia to keep the Monarch defense on edge. Both Hurtado and Ahoia had rushing touchdowns, and Green led the group in rushing with 163 yards on 28 carries.
“With [Akina] getting hurt, we were down to a JV quarterback that had to come in and Garrett McCarthy did a great job stepping into a very difficult situation,” St. Francis coach Greg Calcagno said. “We have a lot of running backs and we needed every one of them today.”
The section title was the first for second-year coach Calcagno. His father Ron began coaching the Lancers in 1972 and turned St. Francis into one of the biggest powers the section has seen over the next few decades.
When these teams squared off in the regular season on Oct. 10, it was Hurtado who got the bulk of the work in the backfield, with 22 carries for 181 yards and two scores. However in Friday’s game, he only carried the ball 10 times for 61 yards.
“We have depth in the backfield and we know we can count on all of us,” Hurtado said. “It just makes it easier on us, the backs, because we know we have great fullbacks, a great [offensive] line and great receivers so we can just go out there and dominate.”
Said Mitty coach Dave Brown: “They were physically better than us today. In the first game we had more stops, but tonight we just had a harder time slowing them down up front.”
The Lancers were also helped by a strong performance from their defense. The Lancer defense had three interceptions and held the Monarch offense to just 94 yards of total offense. But the last interception of the game, which came with just under a minute left in the fourth quarter, was one to remember for all fans of prep football, no matter what your allegiance.
Quinn, the one-armed senior defensive back, intercepted a deep pass attempt to end the Lancers’ season on the highest note possible.
“It’s perfect," Calcagno said. "It’s a fitting end for Riley to make that interception at the end. He’s a special, special kid, and as long as I coach he’s going to be one of the best kids I’ve ever coached because of who he is and what he’s been able to accomplish.”
Said Quinn: “It’s been an up and down year. We wanted to be in the Open Division. I hurt my knee and missed a couple of games, so I haven’t been able to play how I wanted to play all year, but it’s just an amazing ending to a crazy year.”
