St. Francis rushing attack too much for Riordan in crucial WCAL showdown

St. Francis leaned upon its reliable ground game to slip past Archbishop Riordan 27-20 and win a game that established the Lancers as the second-best team in the West Catholic Athletic League. 

“Kingston Keanaaina ran it really well, and our O-line blocked it well up front,” St. Francis coach Greg Calcagno told the Bay Area News Group on Friday night. “We went to a jumbo set up front, and we ran some wildcat and threw different stuff for St. Francis.”

Keanaaina rushed for 133 yards and three touchdowns on 25 carries as St. Francis defeated Riordan for the 14th consecutive meeting. The Crusaders were also coming off a 53-7 loss to Serra last Saturday. 

After Riordan sophomore quarterback Mike Mitchell Jr. rushed for a six-yard touchdown in the first quarter, Keanaaina answered with a 10-yard rush to tie the game at 7-7.

With around three minutes left in the second quarter, Mitchell threw a 40-yard pass to Cynai Thomas to give Riordan a 14-7 advantage. 

Mitchell completed 19 of 27 passes for 202 yards, and his touchdown pass tied Jim Freitas’ 1974 record for the most touchdown passes (17) thrown in WCAL play.

SF’s Christopher Han kicked a short field goal to cut Riordan’s lead to 14-10 going into halftime.

Keanaaina ran for a 39-yard touchdown on the opening drive of the third quarter to put St. Francis on top 17-14, and Han tacked on a 35-yard FG to give the Mountain View school a six-point lead.

Junior quarterback Aaron Knapp had 207 total yards, and his connection with wideout Perrion Williams (four catches for 92 yards) helped keep the offense balanced.

Riordan running back Charlie Johnson, who rushed for 111 yards on 20 carries, tied the game at 20 apiece early in the fourth quarter with a two-yard touchdown run. 

Keanaaina ran for his final touchdown, this time from three yards out, to give St. Francis a lead it would not relinquish. 

For the next seven minutes, a defense led by the Cahoon brothers at linebacker, Afoa Tuua on the line and Mack Mrowka in the secondary kept Riordan’s prolific offense out of the end zone.

“It was really just a true team game where everyone stepped up,” Calcagno said. 

St. Francis will close its regular season at Bellarmine, and Riordan will take a trip to Kezar Stadium to play against crosstown rival Sacred Heart Cathedral. 

Both teams are locks to make it into the Central Coast Section’s Division I bracket and could face each other again in the postseason. 

“That’s what WCAL football is,” Calcagno said. “You run the gauntlet, and then in the playoffs, you’re probably going to run a couple, and sometimes all three, opponents being from the WCAL.”