M-A’s ‘D’ leads Bears to win

The Bears bagged their first trophy of the year with a 9-6 win over Mills, their first over the Vikings, Sept. 24.

Now, the Bears added a second pelt when they knocked off Burlingame Wednesday in Atherton, 14-0.

“(The win over Mills) was the biggest win of the season,” Knowles said. “Now this (win over the Panthers) tops that.

“Both teams beat us last year.”

Both teams came into the matchup with undefeated PAL Bay Division records and with the win, M-A (3-0 PAL Bay, 9-2 overall) keeps pace with defending champ Carlmont, which routed San Mateo 56-0 Tuesday.

And it was the M-A defense that set the tone against Burlingame (1-1, 7-3) as the Bears came up with two interceptions in the first seven plays the Panthers ran. In all, the Bears finished with five interceptions, four in the first half and three from Ryland Caelius.

When the Bears weren’t picking off passes, Burlingame quarterbacks, Kendall Gorshen and Olivia Delucchi, were under consistent, heavy pressure from M-A’s Samantha Ruiz and Cassidy Thomas. Ruiz came up with a six-yard, tackle-for-loss on the first play from scrimmage and later added a sack for a safety.

“Defense tonight was lights out,” Knowles said. “They’ve been lights out this season, but because of how good and fast Burlingame is, this was one of the best (defensive performances).”

Those early interceptions led to a pair of quick M-A scores. Antonina Tangilanu came up with a pick on the second play of the game for the Bears, setting up the offense at the Burlingame 16-yard line. On third down, quarterback Mae Kunihiro, under heavy pressure, calmly found Juliana Pandolfo with a swing pass and Pandolfo did the rest, swiveling her way 8 yards for a 6-0 lead less than four minutes into the game.

It didn’t take long for the Bears to find themselves back in business. Two plays after Burlingame earned an initial first down on a Delucci-to-Brooke Schuman, nine-yard pick up, Pandolfo got the ball back for M-A with her team’s second interception of the opening quarter.

This time, the Bears started the drive on the Panthers’ 33. After an incompletion, Kunihiro completed an 11-yard pass to Elise Koo down to the 22, with penalty yardage added on, taking the ball to the Burlingame 7.

Kunihiro bobbed and weaved her way into the end zone on the next play and the Bears were up 12-0 with just under five minutes left in the opening quarter.

Caelius’ first interception of the game came on Burlingame’s next drive and she returned it 13 yards to the Panthers’ 21-yard line.

But this time, Burlingame stood firm. After a 28-yard pass from Kunihiro to Caelius that took the ball to the 11, Kunihiro was forced out of the game on the next play, when she tweaked her ankle and was sacked.

That brought backup quarterback Alex Alvarado off the bench and into the game. After a bobbled first snap, Alvarado settled in. Facing a fourth-and-goal at the Burlingame 9, Alvarado found Thomas on an out near the goal line.

But Burlingame defender Mae Paulsen made the tackle before Thomas broke the plane, with the Bears turning the ball over on downs and the Panthers taking over at their own 1-yard line.

Instead of the touchdown, M-A had to settle for a safety. On first down, Burlingame’s Delucchi got the ball away under heavy pressure from Ruiz. On second down, Ruiz didn’t miss, getting the flag pull a beat before Ruiz could throw the ball away, giving M-A two points and a 14-0 lead.

Alvarado stayed in the game on the ensuing drive, but the Panthers forced their first punt of game. It was short-lived reprieve, however, as Caelius got her second pick three plays later.

But the M-A offense, with Kunihiro back behind center after getting her ankle taped up, struggled to move the ball much the rest of the game.

With a compromised Kunihiro, Knowles was willing to lean on his defense and try to run as much clock as possible.

“When Mae hurt her ankle, that limited us a little bit. (But) she cane sustain a drive and burn clock,” Knowles said. “I didn’t care if we scored again. I thought our defense would shut them out (the rest of the way).”

Which is what happened. Caelius came up with her third interception of the night on Burlingame’s first possession of the second half and while the Panthers started to find some rhythm with receiver Cailyn Lish, who finished with nine catches for 32 yards, the M-A defense kept the Panthers in front of them over the final two quarters.

“[Burlingame does] a lot of things that are unusual (offensively),” Knowles said. “(The key) was just recognizing formations and motions.”