Oh, for the glory days.
Once upon a time the annual Battle of the Fleas game between the Aragon and Hillsdale football teams was one of the fiercest rivalries on the Peninsula. Now it's been reduced to one of the most lopsided. The Knights last beat the Dons in 1991, the same year they won their last Central Coast Section title (Division II North). Since then the Dons have simply dominated the series and then some.
Saturday, host Aragon defeated Hillsdale for the 13th consecutive time, 60-19. This game mirrored the 12 other Aragon (9-1) victories during the streak — the Knights (1-8-1) haven't been able to stay close. The Dons' closest margin of victory came in '95 — and they still won handily, 21-0.
Aragon coach Steve Sell and Hillsdale coach Jeff Scheller understands better than anyone the significance of a healthy, competitive rivalry between the teams. Sell graduated from Aragon in 1984 and went 1-1-1 against the Knights. Scheller graduated from Hillsdale in '91 and beat the Dons in his senior year.
"It's unfortunate (that the significance of the rivalry has been somewhat diminished)," Sell said. "We have two guys from Burlingame on our staff who tell me stories about the Little Big Game. But I think Jeff has his team them on the right track. He's very positive with the kids and I'm impressed with how hard they play."
"I told coach Sell afterwards that we're going to give them more competitive games in the next couple of years. I think we definitely took a step forward in being competitive in most of our games this year. We return a lot of our key guys for next season and we're trying to change the attitude and reputation of the program. I think more kids will come to Hillsdale when they see the program is more successful," Scheller said.
Aragon built a commanding 46-6 halftime lead and never looked back. The Dons ran off big play after big play, seemingly finding the end zone whenever they touched the ball. Among the highlights: Noel Alexandre completed 7-of-10 passes for 178 yards and two touchdowns; Dominic Williams rushed for 147 yards on just 10 carries, including touchdown runs of 23 and 38 yards, and Sitani Tau rushed for touchdowns of 3 and 37 yards.
Eddie Williams had three receptions for 113 yards, including a 59-yard touchdown. Aragon's backups were superb as well. Keith Green was 4 of 5 for 84 yards, rushed for an 8-yard TD and hooked up with Mitchell Fong for a 48-yard score. Hillsdale's Wes Price finished 14 of 22 for 184 yards and Erik Ratcliffe had four receptions for 70 yards, including touchdowns of 7 and 32 yards. Wilson Castro had three catches and also threw for a 32-yard TD. The Knights finished with a season-low (-22) yards rushing on 17 carries. Aragon finished with five sacks, two from Matangi Tonga.
"We took the approach that if we played our best game and maybe they didn't, anything can happen," Scheller said. "They're probably the best team on the Peninsula - public or private - and we look at playing a team like Aragon as a positive. Now it's all about building for the future."
The Dons enter the CCS playoffs having won nine straight after a season-opening loss to Los Gatos. They were seeded No. 3 seed in the newly-formed Open Division and hosts No. 6 Serra (8-2) on Saturday at 1 p.m.
Hillsdale 0 6 13 0 - 19
Aragon 20 26 7 7 - 60
Scoring summary
A - Mosman 14 pass from Alexandre (kick failed)
A - Tau 37 run (Lee kick)
A - Tau 3 run (Lee kick)
A - E. Williams 1 run (Lee kick)
Recommended for you
A - D. Williams 23 run (kick failed)
A - E. Williams 59 pass from Alexandre (kick failed)
H - Ratcliffe 7 pass from Price (kick failed)
A - D. Williams 38 run (Lee kick)
H - Ratcliffe 32 pass from Castro (pass failed)
A - Fong 48 pass from Green (Lee kick)
H - Price 1 run (Wyman kick)
A - Green 8 run (Lee kick)
RUSHING (carries-yards)
Hillsdale - Munn 4-(-3), Suavo 2-(-7), Joyce 1-2, Price 10-(-14). Totals 17-(-22). Aragon - Tau 4-60, Korff 3-7, D. Williams 10-147, Teaupa 4-16, Tonga 1-(-1), Abad 7-48, E. Williams 1-1, Holton 2-10, Green 1-8, Alexandre 1-(-5). Totals 34-295.
PASSING (comp-att-yds-td-int)
Hillsdale - Price 14-22-184-1-0; Castro 1-1-32-1-0. Totals 15-23-216-2-0. Aragon - Alexandre 7-10-178-2-0; Green 4-5-84-1-0. Totals 11-15-262-3-0.
RECEIVING (catches-yards)
Hillsdale - Joyce 2-13, Ratcliffe 4-70, Castro 3-42, Chiechi 4-54, Molina 1-30, McEvoy 1-7. Totals 15-216. Aragon - Tau 1-9, Mosman 3-56, E. Williams 3-113, Gledhill 1-20, Fong 1-48, Korff 1-3, Abad 1-13. Totals 11-262.
TOTAL YARDAGE (rush-pass-total)
Hillsdale - (-22)-216-194. Aragon - 295-262-557.
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.