From the Archives: 'Paw'sitively thrilling

There was a sickening case of déja vu for San Mateo in the 2009 Little Big Game. Leading 19-7 midway through the third quarter, the Bearcats once again were on the verge of a colossal collapse as Burlingame took a 20-19 lead with nine minutes remaining in the game.

San Mateo coach Jeff Scheller said the Bearcats mantra leading up to the Little Big Game was to finish.

Saturday, the Bearcats did just that, in spectacular fashion.

San Mateo quarterback Mitch Labbie hit John Niupalau with a 44-yard scoring strike with 42 seconds remaining to give the Bearcats a 25-20 victory. It is the Bearcats first win over the rival Panthers since 2003 — the year San Mateo last won a Central Coast Section title.

The win also wrapped up the Peninsula Athletic League's Ocean Division title and its automatic berth into CCS.

But more importantly, it brought “The Paw" back to San Mateo for the first time in six years.

“I don’t know where to start,” Scheller said. “So many ups and downs.”

The finish doesn’t even begin to tell the whole story as both the San Mateo offense and defense shared the spotlight. First, the defense stuffed Burlingame’s Ilan Lesov, who finished with 152 yards and three touchdowns on 33 carries, on fourth down at the Bearcats 6-yard line.

That’s the good news. The bad news was San Mateo had a minute, 36 seconds to drive 94 yards if it wanted to earn the treble —  a division championship, a playoff berth and a win over the Panthers.

On first down, Labbie hooked up with R.J. Ascucion for a 19-yard gain. Two passes to Niupalau gained 12 more yards before George Naufahu ripped off a 24-yard run, refusing to go down as he broke tackle after tackle. Just before being taken down, he flipped the ball Niupalau, but it was flagged as an illegal forward lateral.

Following the 5-yard markoff, Labbie’s next attempt was knocked down by a Burlingame defender. On second down from the Burlingame 44, Labbie took the snap in the shotgun formation and surveyed the field. He rolled to his right as his pocket broke down, pulled up at the line of scrimmage and heaved the ball toward the end zone. Niupalau out-jumped the Burlingame defensive back and came down with the ball to send the San Mateo players and fans into a frenzy.

“That play, we had George (Naufahu) going in the flat," Labbie said. “(But) I saw him (Niupalau) creep past the defender. I knew he had it.”

Said Niupalau: “I can’t believe the last play came to me. I thought it was all a dream.”

Labbie-to-Niupalau was virtually unstoppable Saturday. Niupalau finished with eight catches for 142 yards and two touchdowns as he scored on an 18-yarder to put San Mateo up 19-7 midway through the third quarter.

Labbie had one of the biggest days of his varsity career. The two-year varsity starter completed 11 of 14 passes for 175 yards and the two scoring passes to Niupalau.

“This is the best I’ve seen him play,” Niupalau said.

Said Scheller: “That’s been the way he (Labbie) plays. He wants to make the play. He came up big.”

Despite the heroics, Burlingame still had 42 seconds to answer. The Panthers caught a break when San Mateo was flagged for excessive celebration, forcing them to kickoff from their own 25. The Bearcats kickoff coverage team did a good job and Burlingame took over at its own 34 with 36 seconds left. But Jordan Pessah’s halfback pass fell into the arms of Niupalau for the interception.

Two kneel downs later and the celebration was on for San Mateo.

The loss didn t hurt Burlingame’s playoff chances as coach John Philipopoulos was certain his team would receive an at-large berth to the CCS playoffs.

But that was little consolation.

“We’re definitely upset,” Philipopoulos said. “(We’re) losing The Paw and the league championship is down the drain. It was a great game. Unfortunately, we came up short.”

San Mateo managed to win despite being flagged 11 times for 86 yards and after a botched fake punt attempt near midfield with just over 10 minutes left, a play Scheller said he didn’t call.

Despite all that, the Bearcats made enough plays to overcome the mistakes. San Mateo drew first blood when Naufahu capped a 10-play, 67-yard drive with a 9-yard run to give the Bearcats a 6-0 lead with 1:25 left in the first quarter.

Burlingame finally got on the scoreboard with just under two minutes to play in the first half. The Panthers drove 70 yards on nine plays. They got a huge break when San Mateo was whistled for pass interference near the end zone. Lesov went into the end zone from 4 yards out on the next play. That, coupled with Kevin Nasre’s extra point, gave Burlingame a 7-6 lead.

San Mateo, however, gave a preview of what was to come at the end of the game when Labbie guided the Bearcats 69 yards on 10 plays with 1:42 left in the first half. The key play was a 37-yard hookup with Niupalau before T.K. Taimani bulled his way into the end zone from 3 yards out on the final play of the first half. Andrew Ho’s extra point gave the Bearcats a 13-7 at halftime.

San Mateo went up 19-7 on the first drive of the third quarter. The Bearcats marched 60 yards on 12 plays and culminated with a Labbie-to-Niupalau 18-yard touchdown pass.

Burlingame finally made something happen early in the fourth quarter. A sack of Labbie forced a fumble that the Panthers recovered at the San Mateo 4. Lesov went into the end zone on the ensuing play and suddenly Burlingame was down just 19-14.

San Mateo’s ill-fated fake punt led to Burlingame’s final score as the Panthers went 54 yards on four plays. Lesov’s third touchdown of the game gave Burlingame a 20-19 lead with nine minutes to play.

The teams exchanged turnovers before the San Mateo stopped Burlingame at the 6, setting up the game’s final dramatic moments.

“We ve been working all year for this, Labbie said.

Said Philipopoulos: “[San Mateo] made the last play and they deserve credit for it.”