SAN MATEO — For eight long seconds, wind whipped light showers across San Mateo High's MaryAnn Johnson Memorial Field as 22 football players looked for a solution that might determine the championship.
Finally, a signal from the linesman broke the silence. Sequoia had broken the goal line.
A collective scream erupted from the Sequoia bench because the Ravens players and coaches took the sphere. They hugged and turned on one another. Some simply collapsed in unbridled emotion.
Jordan Crockett's one-yard plunge in additional time gave Sequoia a 13-7 victory and no less than a share of the Peninsula Athletic League Ocean Division title, ensuring the Ravens won their first championship since 2010.
Despite an 0-4 start, Sequoia (5-4 overall, 4-0 league) has rebounded and got here near beating district rival Carlmont on Friday and winning the league outright. San Mateo (7-2, 4-1) awaits a likelihood to tear down a part of the league banner if the Ravens fail.
As Sequoia's cheering died down, first-year head coach Frank Mems, a Sequoia graduate who played at NCAA Division III Hamline University in St. Paul, Minnesota, finally spoke up as his team gathered in front of him.
“It was going to be a dogfight,” Mems told his players. “We knew what was important. We’re the only ones who aren’t surprised we’re here.”
Sequoia was deployed to stop San Mateo's three-way flexbone attack, which averaged 331 yards on the bottom. If safeties Marco Baisch and Nolan Fausto could shoot down the lanes on every play, the Ravens might need a likelihood to chop off the crosses and strengthen the within runs as well.
“We had to deal with crimes like this,” Mems said. “When I got the position, we knew we would be playing these run-intensive teams this fall. Let's actually come up with a plan to address this. That is why our security forces had to be disciplined. When they see it, they must shoot it and not guess again.”
Behind quarterback Cameron Palma, San Mateo can run inside or outside, but this time he has neither. San Mateo managed 136 total yards on 42 carries and was held to 158 total offensive yards.
EJ Fitzgerald, the leading interior receiver who entered the sport with 824 yards rushing, was held to 41, largely because Sequoia defensive tackles Lesoni Olive and Aedan Macias refused to be moved on the road, thereby closing the gaps and linebackers and safeties made plays possible.
Olive sensed the Bearcats becoming frustrated and will hear it of their voices, he said. With each full run, the Ravens gained confidence.
San Mateo took a 7-0 lead within the second quarter on a four-yard run by Palma, however the Bearcats didn't come close until additional time. As each team got the ball on the 10-yard line, San Mateo opened possession and immediately faced fourth-and-goal from the first. Palma tried to fend off a fast snap, but interior defenders Mosese Tangitau and Justin Schernig blocked his path and the remaining of the Sequoia defense pushed the QB backwards.
“I thought we were there,” San Mateo coach Jeff Scheller said. “I thought the ball was over, but we’re not in the NFL with cameras and all that stuff.”
Scheller thwarted a field goal attempt, but at the top of regulation he sent Yianni Fitzerald on a 48-yard attempt for a precise but short shot. Scheller felt the Bearcats needed to match Sequoia touchdown for touchdown, and he was right.
Crockett gained 127 yards on 30 carries and scored each Sequoia scores. Despite missing the primary 4 games – all losses in his absence – Crockett has 739 yards rushing and nine touchdowns. Needless to say, Sequoia relies heavily on him.
Crockett's 16-yard TD run on fourth-and-3 within the third quarter was one such example. San Mateo was about to shut the ball from the within, but Crockett's position coach dared him to withstand it.
“I don’t care if it’s not there,” the coach said. “You have to be who you are and what you have worked for.”
The ball was snapped prematurely, causing quarterback Shawn Royer to wiggle it and shove it into Crockett's hands while the running back got here to a near standstill. Crockett slammed into the road, then spun left into open field, tying the sport.
“I believe with the best teams you have to go through something to achieve something,” Crockett said. “I told the team that at the start of the game. “They bleed like we bleed, they work like we work, they run like we run, and they hit like we hit. It depends on what shapes you.' And what shaped us was going through that adversity together.”
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