Serra takes title

“When the game was over, it was hard to contain my emotions,” Mafi said. “It was just: ‘Let’s go!’”

The time between Serra scoring the go-ahead points on a 34-yard field goal by Daniel Lewis in the fourth quarter and Mafi’s celebration was mere minutes. But the Padres celebrating an outright West Catholic Athletic League championship was generations in the making, a feat they achieved Friday night for the first time since 1969.

Serra head coach Patrick Walsh also exercised patience in celebrating this historic season. When asked during a postgame interview about downplaying the potential accomplishment earlier in the week, he didn’t hesitate to recognize it.

“It is a great accomplishment,” Walsh said. “I just didn’t want us to get caught up in ghosts. I wanted to chase the present.”

At the outset of the regular-season finale at St. Francis — a game that was rescheduled from earlier in the season due to cancelations from poor air quality as a result from the North Bay fires — it didn’t seem the Padres were going to have to wait long to celebrate. Serra seemed intent on putting the game away early, opening with a torrid pace, scoring on each of its first three possessions to take a 21-0 lead less than a minute into the second quarter.

Padres quarterback Luke Bottari led the first-half charge. In the opening half, Serra gained 210 total yards, 202 of them via the air from Bottari. On the night, the junior QB was 16-of-24 passing for 289 yards and three touchdowns.

But many of Bottari’s early completions were a result of broken assignments in the St. Francis secondary leaving receivers wide open. When the Lancers relaxed their secondary, the momentum of the game turned quickly. And while the Padres didn’t seem worried after St. Francis scored on a 3-yard scoring pass from Reed Vettel to Evan Williams to cut the lead to 21-7 just before halftime, the Lancers succeeded in evoking plenty of worries after the break.

“There weren’t worries,” said Chris Park, the Serra cornerback who was guarding Williams when the receiver got airborne for an impressive grab. “It was just a player making a play. … They played well in the third quarter but we made a point to win the fourth.”

St. Francis turned the tide in a hurry in the third quarter on a big play by the WCAL’s leading rusher Darrell Page. The junior took the slightest amount of daylight, then ran over about five would-be tacklers to bolt up the sideline for an 80-yard touchdown, cutting the lead to 21-13 with 2:43 remaining in the third quarter.

After Lewis missed a 40-yard field-goal attempt at the end of the next Serra drive, St. Francis went to work on a nine-play, 80-yard scoring drive on a 9-yard TD run by Page, followed by an acrobatic 2-point conversion catch by Josh Pakola to tie it 21-21 with 8:41 remaining.

Two plays later, though, Serra took the momentum back when Bottari hit senior running back Isiah Kendrick over the middle, and Kendrick sprinted for a 64-yard advance to the St. Francis 14. With a winded Kendrick taking a break, Serra couldn’t advance the ball, but settled for Lewis’ field-goal redemption as he hit an end-over-end kick that just cleared the crossbar to give the Padres a 24-21 lead.

Kendrick re-entered on defense and made a game-saving tackle on the next play from scrimmage, taking down Page — who totaled 23 carries for 165 yards — after a 14-yard run. Four plays later, St. Francis was forced to punt.

Then Park, after yielding St. Francis’ first score, got his redemption as well. Serra took over at its own 32, and on the first play of the drive, Bottari his Park over the middle and the speedster looked up field at nothing but daylight. The result was a 68-yard scoring catch to all but put the game on ice. “

“I just saw a big hole,” Park said. “They made some great blocks, opened up a hole and I just ran.”

Serra’s three early scores were set up by a key Bottari completion on the game’s third play from scrimmage. Facing third-and-9 from the Serra 21, Bottari hit Patrick Nunn over the middle for a 35-ayrd pickup. Five plays later, Kendrick scored on a 3-yard run to make it 7-0.

Later in the opening quarter, Bottari delivered a pass to Park, who bolted 69 yards for a score. Park had five catches for 148 yards in the game.

Then after a St. Francis punt, Serra marched 84 yards on 10 plays, culminating in a 9-yard scoring pass from Bottari to Nunn.

On defense, the saving grace of Serra’s secondary was junior cornerback David Coker, who defended nearly every pass that came his way. Coker was a call-up during the CCS playoffs last year. This is his first full varsity season.

“I’d say this is on one of my best (games),” Coker said. “I was just ready for their routes … and studied films a lot.”

At the end of Park’s final TD run, Walsh may have bolted down the sideline even faster in celebration. It was a clear display of emotion from a coach who, albeit often reserved, wears his emotions on his sleeve with the best of them.

“I love coaching,” Walsh said. “I love the kids. And I’m thrilled for the community. It’s like (the movie) ‘Shawshank Redemption’ with the guys all up on the roof enjoying what they’ve accomplished.”