Junior transfer Kyon Loud stars in three phases as Serra pounds Palma in CCS Division I football opener

The Padres enjoyed an all-out rout of Palma (8-3), taking a 43-0 lead into halftime. The entire second half was played to a running clock.

“It’s win or go home,” Serra senior Kyon Loud said. “We just want to get back where we were, and that was the Open Division championship last year. That’s where I’m trying to get; that’s where the team’s trying to get. And we’re just ready for that.”

On a day that saw Serra establish its ground game from the outset — the Padres gained 353 total yards of offense, including 234 rushing — it was the transfer junior wide receiver Loud who stole the show.

On offense, Loud had two catches for 45 yards and a touchdown, but he starred in all three phases of the game. He added a 64-yard punt return for a touchdown in the first quarter. He also turned in a stellar defensive performance at cornerback, a position where he’s seen a majority of his playing time this year.

“This is the time of year where the playoffs show who can step up, who will step up, because our lives are on the line every week,” Serra head coach Patrick Walsh said. “And it was good to see Kyon assume that role today with, of course, the defense and rest of the team (who) did a great job.”

The Padres were intent on establishing their ground game, a facet of offensive coordinator Darius Bell’s game plan that has gotten lost in the cloud of dust generated by a high-tempo passing approach. And the backfield set the tone from the outset, as junior Jaden Green took the game’s first three carries, accelerating through the A-gap on all three for gains of 16, 10 and 19 yards, the latter a no-nonsense touchdown run to give Serra a 7-0 lead.

While Serra’s leading rusher during the regular season, junior Danny Niu, didn’t touch the ball on offense, Green totaled six carries for a game-high 77 yards.

Walsh credited a reconfigured offensive line with paving the way. The o-line has been a work in progress since 6-4 senior guard Ryan Silver was lost for the year due to a leg injury Sept. 23 in Serra’s West Catholic Athletic League opener at St. Francis. Last week the Padres settled on a starting lineup — its sixth different offensive line of the season — as sophomore lineman Elias Shamieh moved from center to guard, allowing senior Ryan Moeckel to move to center to captain the line. Junior guard Taniela Folau, and junior tackles Giovanni Rivieccio and John Holthaus round out the front five.

“The game plan was to run the football early in the game,” Walsh said, “and do the things we’ve been trying to improve on all year with our new offensive line, moving guys around. If we can get that run going, it’s going to be very difficult to stop us. So, that was Coach Bell’s game plan and the kids got after it.”

But it was Loud who stole the show, mostly on defense — which is really saying something, considering his scoring exploits as a receiver and as a punt returner — where his fiery tackling led a dominant performance. Palma managed just 122 total yards of offense and didn’t complete a play for positive passing yards until the second half.

A transfer from Bishop O’Dowd-Oakland, Loud was a three-phase standout for the Dragons as a sophomore last season. But this year he is one of many targets at the disposal of Serra’s junior quarterback Maealiuaki Smith, who was 9-of-13 passing for 135 yards and three touchdowns.

Senior receivers Grant McGovern and Joey Villaroman also had touchdown catches of 8 and 25 yards, respectively.

“A lot of great receivers on this team,” Loud said. “But we’re equal. We all want everybody to get the ball.”

But, of Loud’s two catches, it was the non-touchdown haul that stood out.

Serra was already staked a 22-0 lead — Green added a 10-yard TD run, followed by a 2-point conversion pass from Alex Atkins to tight end Seamus Gilmartin, to make it 15-0; and after Palma’s second three-and-out to start the game, Loud took the punt return and exploded up the right sideline to go 64 for the score.

Then another Palma three-and-out put Serra on the attack again, only to soon face fourth-and-7 from the Chieftains’ 42. The Padres went for it, sending Loud on a long fade route over the middle. Smith rolled out to buy some time and led Loud nicely in tight 1-on-1 coverage. Despite some difficult variables, the junior receiver pivoted on the run to make a high-handed grab at the Padres’ 8.

“It was into the wind, the ball was knuckling, he made two different turns, came down with a difficult catch,” Walsh said. “It was a fourth-down play. I thought the offensive line did a great job of creating the space. And Maealiuaki, he scrambles to throw, and we’ve seen that all year long where, if he’s scrambling, it’s not to run the ball like some other quarterbacks. It’s to throw the ball, and you saw it on that play there.”

Smith connected with McGovern on the following play for an 8-yard TD pass. Villaroman scored on a 25-pass midway through the second quarter to make it 36-0. Loud closed out the first-half scoring on an 11-yard out-route into the corner of the end zone with nary a defender around him.

“It’s been great to see Kyon’s growth,” Walsh said. “And what I love about him is he’s been very, very patient. He came over here … he’s fit right in perfectly. He’s a great Serra Padre for us. And the football things, nothing’s given to you here at Serra. He’s had to earn it. And it was a beautiful thing to see him star on offense, defense and special teams today.”

Palma opened the second half with a 10-play scoring drive that took eight minutes against the running clock, as senior JC Escutia (15 carries for a team-high 37 yards) closed out his varsity career with a 6-yard touchdown run.

Serra answered back with a seven-play, 70-yard drive, scoring on the first play of the fourth quarter on a 1-yard blast by senior Malachi Gastrock.

Then the Padres, in the words of Bell, emptied the cupboard to get their junior-varsity callups some playoff experience. Sophomore running back Nano Latu was the fourth-quarter highlight in this respect, taking his first varsity carry and bolting through the middle for a 72-yard touchdown score.

“Our last two weeks of offense have been great,” Loud said. “Our QB … Maui, he’s been stepping up big time. So, we’re just playing the best of what we are right now.”