Top-ranked Serra stays unbeaten while sending Mitty to its first loss
SAN MATEO — No high school football team in Northern California brought a better resume into this weekend’s games than Serra.
The San Mateo powerhouse opened the season with defining victories on the road over heavyweights Folsom and De La Salle and last week routed rival St. Francis to open West Catholic Athletic League play.
Archbishop Mitty had carved its own special start to this season.
After winning just one game last fall, the San Jose school had an undefeated record when it stepped onto the field Friday for Serra’s only night home game of the season.
Mitty might be trending up.
But as the game Friday showed, the Monarchs are not yet in Serra’s neighborhood as the Padres prevailed 35-7 to stretch their season-opening winning streak to five games.
Maealiuaki Smith threw for 215 yards and two touchdowns — one to Joey Villaroman, the other to Grant McGovern — and Teddy Chung intercepted two passes to help lead the defense.
It was hardly a perfect game by the Bay Area News Group’s top-ranked team. Serra (5-0, 2-0) had three turnovers and 65 yards in penalties in the first half, but its defense prevented Mitty from scoring until the final quarter.
Serra led 14-0 at halftime and 21-0 after three quarters.
“We got what we expected,” Serra coach Patrick Walsh said. “Mitty is 4-0 and playing their tails off. It was another WCAL night. I thought in the first half we could have pulled away a little bit more, maybe 21.
“But we had some stupid penalties. Sometimes in this night game, our brains are not exactly where they’re supposed to be, and that’s my fault.”
Jabari Mann’s 7-yard run behind a convoy of blockers midway through the first quarter gave Serra a 7-0 lead. The drive covered 46 yards and was highlighted by Smith’s 33-yard fourth-down pass to McGovern, who out-jumped the defender to move the Padres to the 9.
Serra stretched the advantage to 14-0 five minutes into the second quarter when Smith connected with a wide-open Villaroman from 39 yards out.
Mitty (4-1, 1-1) had a shot to cut into the deficit before halftime when Diego Aguilar and Austin Barbeau intercepted passes to give the Monarchs prime field position.
Both times Mitty came away without points.
“I think the worst part of the whole thing is honestly we probably should have been tied at halftime,” Mitty coach Danny Sullivan said. “The defense gave us short fields twice and we couldn’t do anything with it and that’s frustrating, especially since we had been moving the ball so well (this season).
“But you give credit to Serra. They’re going to game plan just as much as we game planned for them.”
Serra made it 21-0 on its first possession of the third quarter. Jaden Green’s 2-yard run across the goal line followed Danny Niu’s 28-yard run that moved the Padres inside the 5.
The cushion crew to 28-0 on the first play of the final quarter as Smith connected with McGovern over the middle on a 20-yard pass play.
“We played well,” Smith said. “It was not our best, but we made some adjustments. We knew they were going to come out strong and we had to make adjustments on the fly.”
Ben Kim’s spectacular 35-yard reception from Wills Towers down the right sideline set up Mitty’s only score. On the next snap after Kim’s catch, AJ Cenizal ran in from the 3 to cut the margin to 28-7.
Malachi Gastrock’s 14-yard touchdown run pushed Serra’s lead back to 28 and completed the scoring.
“This is a hard league,” Walsh said. “We’re going to get everyone’s best. We can’t give any of our opponents anything. It’s the game of the year for anyone that plays us because of what we have done in these first five games. We’re going to have to be a little bit more mature.”