Carlmont football rallies late vs South City

The Scots (3-1) rushed for a dutiful 181 yards as a team, but it was two big bombs from quarterback Johnny Dunne to Chopoff that served to knock out South City, as Carlmont rallied for a 26-21 comeback victory Friday night in Belmont.

“It feels good because last year every time there was a close game, we always lost,” Chopoff said. “Now we’ve got that win and it feels good.”

Carlmont led early, and took a 20-7 advantage midway through the third quarter on a 74-yard strike on a wheel route from Dunne ot Chopoff.

But South City (2-2) fired back. A Warriors fumble recovery near the end of the end of the third quarter set up a 38-yard touchdown pass from Angelo Bartolome to Darren Miller. Then when Fields fronted a clutch stop to force a three-and-out, Miller returned the ensuing punt 63 yards to the Carlmont 2-yard line. South City punched it in on a 2-yard dive from Marcus Mercurio, and kicker Ernesto Navarrete booted the point-after try to give the Warriors a 21-20 edge with 11:14 to play.

The Scots had one more scoring drive left in them, though, and Dunne and Chopoff delivered the game-winning play to swing their team back ahead against the reigning Central Coast Section Division V champions.

“It’s great because we were down and we faced adversity against a section champion,” Carlmont head coach Eric Rado said.

Carlmont took over at its own 48 — thanks to a South City personal foul on the kickoff — and marched 52 yards on 10 plays. The big strike came on third-and-19 at the South City 25, with Dunne hitting a wide-open Chopoff on another wheel route for a touchdown with 6:25 to go.

“When we run the ball my coach always says we run ball down their throat,” Chopoff said. “And once those backers come downhill, we pass the ball. And that’s when we got me open.”

The Scots soldiered for ground yards from the outset, opening with a 14-play, 67-yard scoring drive. Carlmont faced fourth-and-1 twice, and went to senior running back Kaisei Trotter on the same play off tackle to move the sticks. Then on third-and-5 from the Warriors’ 18, senior slot Daniel Mattioli gained 5 on a sweep play around the right side. The Scots went right back to Mattioli, who motored around the left side for a 12-yard scoring run, with a headlong dive across the pylon, staking Carlmont to an early 7-0 lead.

When the Scots took over at the beginning of the second quarter, they began opening up the offense. Carlmont opened the possession with a 16-yard pass from Dunne to Mattioli. Two plays later, Trotter exploded off the left side for a 17-yard run into the red zone. The Scots then spread it around, with Trotter running for 1 yard, and Mattioli going for 11 on a sweep play to set up first-and-goal from the 2. On the next play, Dylan Young pounded it in to up the lead to 14-0.

The Scots’ 14-point lead seemed to wake up the South City offense, though. Specifically, senior running back Fields, who got the Warriors on the board by capping an 80-yard drive with a 40-yard scoring sprint.

“He was a dawg out there,” Chopoff said. “He was making plays. He’s a hell of a player, but we tried to stop him. He got licks on us but, hey, we stopped him and we beat them at the end of the day.”

Fields and senior fullback Marcus Mercurio moved the ball downfield on the drive, but it was a passing play that preceded Fields’ big run that nearly spelled disaster. With the ball near midfield, Bartolome’s short pass attempt to Cisco Lutu was nearly intercepted by Carlmont linebacker Keoki Firenze. But Firenze tipped the ball up and watched it land in Lutu’s hands near the sideline for a 7-yard pickup. On the next play, Fields burst through the line, then seemed to continuing accelerating to outrun three Carlmont defenders to low fly into the end zone, cutting Carlmont’s lead in half.

Fields finished with 11 carries for 64 yards and a score, while Miller added 13 carries for 58 yards and a TD. But it was after Carlmont scored its final touchdown that Fields and Miller nearly stole the show.

The Warriors took over with 6:14 to play, but soon found themselves facing fourth-and-19 from their own 18. That’s when South City head coach Kolone Pua went back to a play that served his team well during their historic 2023 season — the hook-and-ladder, which saw Miller make the catch and toss it to Fields for a 51-yard pickup and a first down into Carlmont territory.

“He was one defender off (from breaking it for a TD),” Miller said.

South City never reached the end zone. The Warriors fumbled it twice on their next two plays, turning it over on the second with 2:14 to play. They got the ball back on a punt with 16 seconds at their own 45, only to have the game end on a weird play.

On what turned out to be the final play of the game, Miller hauled in a 30-yard pass over the middle to the Carlmont 30 with four seconds left on the clock. South City was out of timeouts, but sprinted down the field in an attempt to spike the ball. The Warriors lined up before the referees spotted the ball and managed to snap it; only the refs hadn’t whistled to start the clock yet, therefore nullifying the spike while still starting the clock.

“We were ready but the referees weren’t ready,” Pua said.

Pua recounted the play from his hopes that Miller could score on the reception over the middle.

“Hopefully he was going to break, and not trip, and score,” Pua said. “That’s the best thing that we could do. But it didn’t work out. Then our guys are running down there and getting ready, but we have a young team, a young quarterback.”

Carlmont’s ground game was paced by Trotter with 92 yards on 25 carries. Dunne was 8-of-15 passing for 168 yards with two TDs, while Chopff had four catches for 124 yards and two scores.