Carlmont, San Mateo high school football teams eager to meet

For the host Bearcats, it’s almost like opening night all over again. After opening the season with a 34-0 win over Saratoga Aug. 27, San Mateo was sidelined last week and it’s game against Half Moon Bay canceled because of a positive COVID test.

“Yeah, it does. It feels like the first game of the year,” said San Mateo head coach Jeff Scheller. “I think the team understood (the COVID situation last week). They’ve lived this life. Toward the end of last week, [the team’s attitude was], ‘It is what it is.’”

Which is why Carlmont head coach Eric Rado said there is a certain urgency to every game and it does not have necessarily have anything to do with last week’s result. The Scots have already had one COVID incident that cost them their scrimmage and necessitated an additional day of prep before their opener against El Camino, which agreed to move the game to that Saturday two weeks ago.

“Especially with what happened in the spring, our focus to the kids is – don’t take it for granted,” Rado said. “You only get so many times to put on that jersey. That includes practice.”

The game will feature Carlmont’s 1-2 punch of Luke Nessel and John Hanna against San Mateo’s triple-option offense. Nessel and Hanna are quickly becoming one of the best tandems in the PAL as they have already combined for 578 yards of offense and five touchdowns.

Nessel is having a breakout year, having rushed for 386 yards after two games.

“Carlmont, they can run the ball well. [Nessel] is the real deal,” Scheller said.

Carlmont is not wholly dependent on just those two guys, either. Rado said he has a stable of backs and the stats bear that out as nine players already have carries on the season, a crew that is averaging just shy of 8 yards a carry.

“We try to spread the ball around,” Rado said.

The Scots don’t go to the air a lot, but when they do, they have been efficient. Quarterback Jack Weissinger is 13-for-27 for 176 yards through two games. But five of those completions have gone for touchdowns.

Scheller hopes his Bearcats can follow up on a strong defensive performance they displayed against Saratoga.

“We tackled really well (against Saratoga),” Scheller said. “They didn’t have yards after the hit. We team tackled. We pursued to the ball.”

The Bearcats will counter with running, running and more running. Scheller has toyed with pro set and spread-style offenses over the years – with not much success. He implemented the triple option full time about four years ago. He believes this year’s quarterback, junior Giancarlo Selvitella, runs it better and has a better feel for the offense than his predecessors.

“Giancarlo has his way of managing this offense, in a lot of ways, better than [the previous guys],” Scheller said. “He has a good arm, but he can just manage and read. That’s all he has to do.”

Which is the whole key to the triple option. It relies on the quarterback to make the reads of the defense as the play develops to determine where the ball will go.

Conversely, the key for the Carlmont defense, then, is to force the quarterback to make a decision and to do that, the Scots will need to stay disciplined.

“They’re a tough offense to defend,” Rado said. “You have to know your keys and can’t be out of position. … They’re looking for people to be out of position and when they find the guy leaning the wrong way, they make you pay for it.”