In a battle of defenses Friday night at Independence High School, the Bellarmine Bells edged out a 17-12 victory over the Serra Padres to advance to the CCS Open Division Finals. Bellarmine’s season record improves to 11-1-0, while Serra’s season ends with a 9-3-0 overall record.
“I’m not going to describe this loss with any negative connotation, just because of how we played,” said Serra coach Patrick Walsh. “It was a well-fought game, and I think the kids should be proud of their effort. At the end of the day, effort trumps results.”
The game was ultimately decided on less than six inches. The Serra offense led a nearly six-minute march towards the end zone, ending up with a 4th-and-2 situation with 1:08 left in the game. Sophomore running back Kava Cassidy tried to force the ball into the end zone, but ended up being just inches short.
“It came down to one play, just like it did in our first game, and our defense made the play each time,” said Bellarmine coach Mike Janda, referring to a 35-34 victory in which the Bells stopped Serra on a two-point conversion in overtime. “They score, they win. We stop them, we win. Fortunately, we got it done, and we give all the credit to our defense.”
Serra was forced to finish without star senior running back Eric Redwood, the school's all-time leading rusher. Redwood, who rushed for 158 yards on 24 carries, broke his collarbone in the fourth quarter.
“Do I wish we got six more inches? Absolutely, but we just fell a bit short,” said Walsh. “I don’t know any way we could improve. I just wish Eric Redwood didn’t break his collarbone. He probably would have been in there.”
Even with a broken collarbone, Redwood stayed in game as long as he could, running multiple plays until he was forced to stop.
"I probably played about seven plays with my collarbone hurt,” said Redwood. “I’m actually supposed to be in the hospital right now to get X-rays, but I wanted to stay with my team and be on the sideline.”
Just as Bellarmine’s defense was able to stop Serra’s offense in their last drive, defenses dominated throughout the game, as no touchdowns were scored in the first half. With just 3:07 left in the first quarter, Serra’s senior kicker Anthony Toms nailed a 37-yard field goal, but Bellarmine’s kicker Grant Bush was able to respond with 10:44 left in the second quarter with a 20-yard field goal of his own.
Finally in the first half, multiple defenders from Serra sacked Bellarmine’s quarterback K.J. Carta-Samuels in the end zone for a safety on a 3rd-and-29 situation for Bellarmine, making it 5-3 Serra at the end of the half.
“We were playing great defense all game long, and I think that safety shows it,” continues Walsh. “It came down to a few plays, and I’m proud of the effort and enthusiasm of the team.”
In the second half, Bellarmine took a 17-5 lead with two touchdowns from Kenneth Olugbode, who ran for 72 yards on 17 carries in the game and even caught the ball once for 17 yards. After the Bells recovered a fumbled snap by Serra quarterback Zack Kazakoff, Olugbode took the ball into the end zone for a 1-yard touchdown with 9:12 left in the third. With 10:19 left in the fourth quarter, Olugbode scored again on an 11-yard run.
“There’s a reason why Kenneth is the WCAL MVP,” Janda said. “He played hard, and he always gets the guys going. We just made one more play than they did. That’s the story of the game.”
Finally, Serra was able to respond in less than two minutes with a 5-yard touchdown run from Redwood with 8:27 left in the game, but the Padres couldn’t secure a second touchdown to claim the victory.
The Bells now await Saturday night's semifinal between WCAL foes Archbishop Mitty and St. Ignatius to see who they will meet for the CCS championship, which would be Bellarmine's second consecutive Open title.
