Prep football: Marin Catholic secures return trip to State
Charles Williams ran for two touchdowns and intercepted two passes as Marin Catholic built an early lead and eventually held on for a 35-28 win against McClymonds in the NorCal 3-A Regional Bowl on Saturday in Kentfield.
William provided the signature play of the game, a 60-yard touchdown run during which he was almost tackled in the backfield before spinning away from two defenders and bolting to the end zone for a 21-6 lead. Despite taking that advantage into the half, MC (13-1) needed to come up with one final defensive stop as the clock expired to finish off the Warriors (8-3).
McClymonds quarterback Redmani Albert — facing a fourth down with 3 seconds left from his own 21-yard line — heaved a deep ball that was tipped in the air before being intercepted by Chase Merrick near midfield to end the game.
The victory sends Marin Catholic to the State 3-A championship game to be played sometime next weekend against the winner of Saturday night’s 6 p.m. SoCal game between Mount Miguel and Mayfair. The times and locations of all the state title games will be announced on Sunday.
After the teams exchanged three-and-outs on their first possessions, MC came up with another stop and started with the ball around midfield. The Wildcats capped the drive with a touchdown pass from quarterback Peter Macaulay to receiver Braiden Bachich-Dixon for a 7-0 first-quarter lead.
McClymonds opened up the second quarter with a promising drive that stalled out at MC’s 31-yard line when Mario Crocitto got to the quarterback for his first of four sacks in the game.
MC went back to the well with Macaulay and Bachich-Dixon as the two players connected on a deep ball inside Mack’s 5-yard line. Macaulay capped the drive with a 5-yard run to push MC’s advantage to 14-0.
McClymonds stayed in the game courtesy of its defensive line, which forced a pair of fumbles that led to 14 points — one to set up a touchdown run by Albert and another that was returned directly for a score.
In between those touchdowns by McClymonds, Williams broke loose for his highlight-reel run.
MC found itself in a one-score game late in the third quarter but put together a strong drive featuring a first-down catch by tight end Jordan Rogers and a pair of runs by Williams, who eventually pushed the lead up to 28-14 following a 4-yard run that featured two more spin moves.
MC still couldn’t shake McClymonds, which got a long touchdown run by Tajir Golden to once again pull within a score at 28-21.
Williams’ second interception of the game led to the decisive points for MC. The Wildcats took over with just under 8 minutes to go with Macaulay finishing off the drive with a touchdown run with 5:15 left.
McClymonds pulled within 35-28 with 2:30 to play and forced a three-and-out on MC’s last possession. Needing to go 84 yards in 37 seconds, the Warriors were never able to get anything going. Merrick’s interception triggered celebrations around the stadium as MC is heading to a state title game for the first time since winning a championship in 2021.
MC was eliminated at this stage last season in heartbreaking fashion on a last-second field goal by San Ramon Valley in a 19-17 defeat. MC defeated Escalon 21-14 in a NorCal Regional Bowl in 2021 before beating Central Valley Christian to win the 4-AA state title.
This story will be updated.