Couri, Meredith insist on playing through the pain

Whether Terra Nova senior linebacker Layne Couri or Burlingame sophomore running back Lucas Meredith ever play football beyond high school, they certainly proved they have the mental capacity to endure the bumps and bruises that go along with playing the sport.

In the fourth quarter of Terra Nova’s 62-37 loss to Aptos, Couri knocked down a swing pass intended for the flat. Moments later, he came running off with the ring finger on right hand sticking out at a 45-degree angle. He very easily could have called it a night at that point.

Instead, the Terra Nova training staff reset the finger, taped it up with his middle finger and he went back onto the field. Two plays later, he knifed into the gap to take down an Aptos ball carrier.

In Meredith’s case, he didn’t want to come off the field during the Panthers’ 45-7 win over Mountain View. He was on the sideline in the second quarter with the Burlingame defense on the field, in obvious discomfort. But when the Panthers offense came back out for their next drive, Meredith was in the backfield. After a carry, he was past the discomfort level and in downright pain. As the Burlingame coaching staff was yelling at him to go down so they could get him off the field, Meredith waved them off, got back into his stance and ripped off an 11-yard run before hobbling off the field.

“You’re done!” one of the Burlingame coaches said.

“No I’m not,” Meredith replied.

With the score 21-0 and Burlingame in total control, there was no reason for Meredith to come back. The coaching staff had to protect him from himself, knowing there is at least one more game to be played this season.

Even late in the game, Meredith was still making his pitch to go back into the game. The coaching staff simply ignored his pleas.

The fact of the matter is, not everyone is cut out to play football well, even at the high school level. The ones who relish the physical part of the game are the players who leave a mark on their programs.

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It appeared everything was lined up to finally finish the first round of the Central Coast Section football playoffs Saturday. CCS officials implemented their contingency plan that saw the remaining 15 games moved to five schools in Salinas, Watsonville and Pacific Grove. The general thinking was that the air quality in the southern end of the CCS had been consistently better than what we had been experiencing on the Peninsula and thus should enable the games to finally be played after three postponements.

But you know what they say about well-laid plans. Turns out the bad air had finally wafted south, forcing another day of frantic checking of the air quality index, as well as Twitter to find out all the latest news on the games.

And wouldn’t you know it? A couple games originally scheduled for Alisal in Salinas were moved to Gilroy and Live Oak high schools because of poor air quality. And I’ll be honest — CCS easily could have pulled the plug on the games in Watsonville, as well.

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The Peninsula Athletic League had a strong showing in the first round of CCS, compiling a record of 5-2. Carlmont, the PAL’s Lake Division champion, earned its first CCS win since the 1991 playoffs when they beat South City 27-17 in the Division II-North semifinals. That squad lost in the championship game 21-7 to Hillsdale.

The 2018 edition of the Scots duplicated that point production 27 years later with a 28-7 win over Willow Glen in the Division IV bracket.

All five PAL winners — Menlo-Atherton, Sacred Heart Prep, Burlingame, King’s Academy and Carlmont, combined to beat their opponents by an average of 34.5-11. SHP was involved in the closest game, holding off St. Ignatius 13-7.

In three of the other four wins, M-A, Burlingame and King’s Academy all scored more than 40 points, averaging 44.

The only two PAL teams not to advance were Aragon (Open Division II) and Terra Nova (Open Division III).

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The California Interscholastic Federation sent out a press release Monday, outlining the dates of the Nor Cal, So Cal regional and state bowl games.

Those dates had already been established previously. But the real news may be that the North Coast Section will have to make a decision. If NCS teams wish to participate in the Northern California regional games, the NCS may have to cut short its section playoffs. If the section elects to finish off its various brackets, the section will forfeit its spots in the regional bowl.

“It appears that all CIF Sections will be able to complete their respective Championships and advance their representatives except for possibly the North Coast Section (NCS) Divisions I-V. The NCS has four entries into the CIF State Regionals that may be impacted,” the press release said. “NCS participation in the CIF State Football Regional and State Championship Bowl Games will be a decision left up entirely to the NCS participating schools and the NCS. If the schools desire to complete their Section Championship, then those slotted positions in the State Regionals on December 7 and 8 will be byes for their opponents. Those opponents will automatically move forward to the CIF State Football Championship Bowl Games.”

It has been reported that NCS officials are mulling over the idea of flipping a coin to determine its Nor Cal representatives.

Nathan Mollat can be reached by email: nathan@smdailyjournal.com or by phone: 344-5200 ext. 117.