In win, Serra passes on passing

Serra rolled up 311 yards of offense, all on the ground, in a statement-making 28-21 win over the visiting Chieftains. Serra (3-0) defeated Palma (1-1-1), winners of three of the last four Central Coast Section Division I titles, for the second straight year. Serra coach Patrick Walsh put the victory into some pretty rarefied air.

"One of the greatest wins in Serra football history," Walsh said. "The team showed a lot of character. That was a prizefight out there, just two good teams going out and trading blows."

The Padres were clearly the aggressor early in this heavyweight bout. They went up 14-0 by scoring on two of their first three possessions, only to see Palma, ranked in the top 10 in the state by a number of high school publications, reel off 21 unanswered points, capped by Barry Knappe's 10-yard touchdown run with 2:03 left in the third quarter.

Serra responded with a 10-play, 68-yard drive, culminating with Edward Berry's 8-yard touchdown run to make it 21-21 with 10:20 left in the fourth. Anthony Sanchez came up with one of the game's key plays, recovering a botched handoff exchange between Chieftains quarterback Chad Bozzo and Knappe on the ensuing possession. The Padres took just five plays and 37 yards to score the game-winner, an 8-yard scoring run by Lopeti Taufoou on a reverse handoff with 7:04 left.

The Serra defense had to make one last stand.

The Chieftains took over on its 20-yard line, converted on two third down and one fourth down possession en route to the Serra 17, where it faced a fourth-and-six with 55 seconds remaining. Bozzo looked to pass, but was drilled by Billy Glasspole just as he was attempting the throw, forcing an incompletion. Serra's defense, which hadn't put much pressure on Bozzo all game, brought the heat when it counted the most.

"All I could think about was trying to hit him (Bozzo) before he could get the ball away," Glasspole said. "We really came in as the underdog and the only ones who believed in us was ourselves. Palma came in with the top 10 ranking and we're not even ranked. A lot of people don't even know who Serra is. It's just a great win."

Serra ran 49 times and attempted just three passes. In the second half it almost went exclusively to its "Raider" set, a double-wing formation so closely bunched every Serra player is within 10 yards of one another. There are seven lineman (center Andrew Banis, guards Nick Mofsie and Marco Navarro, tackles Samuel Kroon and Ross Silverman, along with extra blocking ends Will Powers and Glasspole/Kyle Bach).

Fullback Doug Hansen lines up behind quarterback Jeremiah Masoli, while wingbacks Taufoou is flanked left and Cheyenne Tuufuli flanked right. Serra's run-oriented offense is in stark contrast to last year's fun and gun, spread out the field high-octane attack, which was more quick-hitting and explosive, but also more susceptible to a barrage of turnovers.

"This is a totally different composition," Walsh said. "God bless Masoli. We had no completions, but he wants to win and I got a lot of respect for that kid. He never comes up to me and says, 'can we throw?' A lot of QBs want to gun it up; this kid just wants to do what's best for the team."

Tuufuli led the way with 106 yards on 14 carries, while Hansen and Taufoou rushed for 77 and 57 yards, respectively. Masoli rushed for 46 yards on six carries. Palma totaled 309 yards, 162 of which came through the air. Bozzo completed 14 of 21 passes for 162 yards and Michael Willrodt had eight receptions for 99 yards. Hansen ran for an electrifying 53-yard touchdown for Serra's first score, and Tuufuli scored from a yard out two possessions later.

Palma 0 7 14 0 - 21

Serra 7 7 0 14 - 28

Scoring summary

S - Hansen 53 run (Parque kick)

S - Tuufuli 1 run (Parque kick)

P - Bozzo 1 run (Steinbach kick)

P - Rauber 4 run (Steinbach kick)

P - Knappe 10 run (Steinbach kick)

S - Berry 8 run (Parque kick)

S - Taufoou 8 run (Parque kick)

RUSHING (carries-yards)

Palma: Knappe 11-44, Franacioni 3-4, Casas 1-8, Sammut 3-9, Bartley 5-28, Rauber 3-3, Bozzo 11-46. Totals 37-146. Serra: Hansen 10-77, Tuufuli 14-106, Taufoou 15-57, Berry 4-25, Masoli 6-46. Totals 49-311.

PASSING (comp-att-yds-td-int)

Palma: Bozzo 14-21-162-0-0. Serra: Masoli 0-3-0-0-0.

RECEIVING (catches-yds)

Palma: Willrodt 8-99, Frichette 2-17, Harris 4-46. Totals 14-162. Serra: none.

TOTAL YARDAGE (rush-pass-total)

Palma: 146-162-309. Serra: 311-0-311.