Honor roll: The week’s best performances by San Mateo County high school athletes

“In the group chat, everyone was saying: ‘Oh, Brody, you’re him! You’re him!” Gomez said. “It’s one of those things, you look back, you just think it’s funny.”

Well, it turns out Cal-Hi Sports was onto something. In the Mustangs’ 21-7 win over Burlingame to clinch the PAL De Anza League championship Friday night at Carl Reyna Field, head coach Jay Oca went to the “Air” Farrugia page of the playbook. With the Mustangs clinging to a 14-7 lead, Oca called a double pass, with Gomez throwing a backward swing pass to Farrugia, who locked and loaded to fire a 26-yard touchdown strike to junior Travis Ciardella.

Exactly the way they drew it up.

“That was a good throw,” Gomez said. “Great catch, great throw, everything. We work on that every [week] at practice. We go through all our trick plays, everything.”

Farrugia accounted for two of Cap’s three scores. He got his team on the board in the second quarter with a 14-yard pass reception at the front of end zone to put Cap up 7-0. Gomez showed off his athleticism on the play, rolling right and throwing back across his body to hit Farrugia in stride. Gomez was 12-of-16 passing for 206 yards and one TD.

It was Farrugia’s TD throw, however, that stole the show.

“He’s got an arm,” Gomez said. “He’s got a cannon.”

Stella Newman, Burlingame girls’ cross country. The junior captured her first PAL race of the season, posting a time of 19:13 at the Bedwell Park Course. She held off Hillsdale’s Naia Hsieh, who ran a 19:21. It is quite a regular-season finish for Newman, who was 14th in the first PAL race at Westmoor and moved up to fourth at Crystal Springs Cross Country Course in PAL race #2.

Haley Ansari, Burlingame flag football. The junior had a monster game in the season finale, a 36-0 win over Aragon. Ansari accounted four six touchdowns — four on offense and a pair of pick-6 interceptions on defense.

Alder Halterman, Half Moon Bay football. The senior running back went over the 200-yard mark rushing in the Cougars’ 27-19 win over Carlmont. He ran for 220 yards and three touchdowns on 31 carries.

Ava Cacao and Mia Ferdinand, Mercy-Burlingame volleyball. Mercy clinched the WBAL Foothill Division championship outright last Wednesday with thrilling five-set victory at Sacred Heart Prep. It was the program’s first championship in the WBAL’s upper league since 2010. As they’ve done all season, Cacao and Ferdinand led the way. Cacao, a senior outside hitter, scored a double-double with 19 kills and 18 digs, while swinging at a .348 clip. Ferdinand, a senior middle, recorded a .370 hitting percentage, totaling 14 kills while adding four blocks.

Nico Pollioni, Sacred Heart Prep football. The junior quarterback had the best game of his career in the Gators’ 21-7 upset of Menlo-Atherton. Taking over the starting role a month ago, Pollioni completed 10-of-12 passes for 255 yards, including touchdown passes of 69 yards to McKinley Palmer and 56 yards to Kyle Chai.

Lauren Greene, Carlmont flag football. The junior quarterback helped lead the Scots to the first official PAL championship in the modern era following a 19-7 win Mills. She accounted for 166 yards of total offense — rushing for a game-high 104 yards on just seven carries, including an 11-yard touchdown run. That was preceded by a 45-yard run on an option keeper.

Lily Kautai, Menlo School volleyball. The senior setter was on her game as Menlo cruised to a three-set sweep in the CCS Division IV opener against Harker. Kautai recorded a double-double with 16 kills and 10 assists, and recorded a career-high fourth straight match with double-digit kills.

Evan Usher, Woodside football. The senior running back was banged up earlier in the season, but has ramped up his workload over the past month. He led the Wildcats to a 37-19 win over Fremont-Sunnyvale last Friday, recording his fourth straight 100-yard game with 189 yards on 21 carries, both season-highs, and two touchdowns. The performance pushed the third-year varsity fullback past the 4,000-yard career rushing mark. He’s run for 947 yards this season, and totaled 1,342 yards as a junior, and 1,749 yards as a sophomore.

Cason Mitchell, Menlo-Atherton boys’ cross country. The junior won PAL race #3 at Bedwell Park in Menlo Park to give him a season sweep of the three PAL regular-season races. He covered the 5,000-meter Bedwell course in a time of 16:37, holding off teammate Thomas Bernadicou, who finished with a 16:42.

Sierra Morales, Menlo-Atherton volleyball. The Bears were knocked out of the CCS Open Division tournament with a heartbreaking five-set loss to Palo Alto and former Carlmont head coach Chris Crader. M-A battled to extra-points twice in the match, dropping both, including a decisive 16-14 outcome in Game 5. Morales was the star for M-A, as the senior middle blocker scored a season-high 20 kills.

Michael Hildebrandt, Priory eight-man football. Priory wrapped up its fourth straight league championship Friday with a 70-20 home win over Crystal. Both team entered play undefeated Pacific Coast League play, a big accomplishment for a Crystal squad that in 2023 forfeited its first three games en route to a 1-6 overall record. Crystal was riding a big performance from senior receiver Rohan Dalal, who led the Gryphons’ Oct. 25 win 50-8 over Pinewood with nine catches for 178 yards and five touchdowns; and Dalal came up big again Friday, totaling nine catches for 125 yards on one score. Not to be outdone, however, Hildebrandt, however, led Priory’s ground-intensive attack with 12 carries for 134 yards and four touchdowns. The Panthers now own a 17-game winning steak in league play dating back to 2019.

Ryan Cory and Isaiah Corona, Terra Nova football. It’s been a tough go for the Tigers this season. In falling 36-26 to Milpitas last Friday, Terra Nova has now dropped five straight on the year, and nine straight in league play going back to last season. To salvage a wet and windy Senior Night, however, Cory and Corona put on a show. Cory, a senior slot receiver, ran the point on two option passes, and completed them both to Corona for touchdowns, one for an 80-yard strike and the other for 40. Corona finished with four catches for a game-high 152 yards.

Natalia Szczerba, Sacred Heart Prep girls’ polo. The senior attacker helped lead the Gators to their 10th straight WCAL title. Szczerba scored a combined 10 goals in semifinal and final matches. She had four in a 19-13 win over St. Ignatius and then poured in six in an 18-3 win over Menlo in the championship match.

Jordan Crockett V, Sequoia football. The senior running back helped the Ravens to their fourth straight win and a victory away from their first outright PAL title since winning the PAL Lake Division title in 2010 and advancing to the CCS Division II championship game. Crockett rushed for 124 yards and both touchdowns on 31 carries as the Ravens stunned San Mateo in overtime, 13-7.