M-A, Serra familiar with Nor Cal stage

Serra didn’t reach the Nor Cal finals in 2018, but won regional championships at three different levels in 2016, ’17 and ’19 — as well as the 2017 Division 2-AA state championship — before earning a bye through the regional rounds (and de facto CIF Open Division Nor Cal titles) in advancing to the Open Division State Championship Bowl three straight years from 2021-23.

Now, the two esteemed programs are the last two San Mateo County teams standing heading into Nor Cal finals weekend. Serra is back in Division 2-AA, the fourth tier of the 15 CIF football brackets, and will travel to St. Mary’s-Stockton for Friday’s regional final at 7:30 p.m. M-A is in the ninth tier, Division 4-A, to host El Cerrito Saturday at 6 p.m.

M-A overcomes slow start

Senior quarterback Teddy Dacey is the personification of M-A’s path to the Nor Cal finals this season.

The Bears dropped their first four games en route to starting the year 1-5. From there, Dacey and company won six of their next seven game, and using a 3-2 record in the Peninsula Athletic League Bay Division power league to finish in fourth place and advance to the Central Coast Section Division III tournament.

From there, Dacey upped his game to throw seven touchdown passes in three CCS playoff games. The No. 3-seed Bears were fortunate in that they never played the No. 1 or 2 seeds. No. 7 Sacred Heart Prep upset No. 2 Carmel in the tournament opener, and M-A went on to knock off SHP in the semifinals. No. 8 San Mateo stunned top-seed Woodside in an opening-round overtime thriller, and M-A ultimately won its fifth all-time CCS title by topping San Mateo 31-21 in last Saturday’s championship game.

While Dacey matched his season-high with three touchdown passes against San Mateo, where he really shined was on the ground. The senior rushed 10 times for a career-high 68 yards and got M-A on the board with an elusive 8-yard scoring run, lining up at the wide out position and taking a handoff on an end around option that was designed for him to throw the ball, but instead he darted up the middle and dodged a tackle at the goal line to reach the end zone.

It was a sign of things to come, as Dacey picked his spots to scramble in third-down situations to move the chains time and again.

“He’s the Road Runner,” M-A head coach Chris Saunders said.

While M-A’s offense has been synonymous with the pro-style passing game this season — sophomore receiver Kyle Gabriel owns 457 receiving yards and six TDs, while senior Matthew Kwon has 424 yards and seven TD catches — Dacey jumped into third place on the team’s rushing leaderboard in the CCS finals, behind senior Eva Ama (439 yards, 4.6 yards per carry and six TDs) and senior Monte Turner (435 yards, 3.3 yards per carry and three TDs).

“When I see open field, I’m going to take it every time,” Dacey said. “I can’t help myself.”

El Cerrito is 11-2 overall, and ran the table in in the Tri-County Athletic League Rock Division to win its fifth league championship in the last six years. Head coach Tim Johnson is in his first season. The Gauchos rebounded from a 1-8 record in 2024, when the team forfeited six games due to the use of ineligible players.

Gritty Padres face old foe

Each of Serra’s three Nor Cal titles in 2016, ’17 and ’19 had a common early-season non-league opponent — St. Mary’s. The Rams and Padres have met eight times throughout their histories, but prior to 2016, the last time came in 1955.

Serra is 6-2 all-time against St. Mary’s, but 1-2 in the modern era, after back-to-back shellackings, starting with a 63-35 loss in the 2016 season opener. It was a strange way to start of Padres football as a Nor Cal power, as head coach Patrick Walsh’s team overcame an 0-4 start in 2016 before claiming the CCS Open Division II title against Mitty and the Nor Cal Division 2-A championship with a 49-36 triumph at Sanger, before falling in a 42-40 heartbreaker to Sierra Canyon-Chatsworth in the state finals.

In 2017, the Padres opened the season with a 41-13 loss to St. Mary’s, but the rest of the season played out even better. Serra went on to with the CCS Open II title against St. Francis-Mountain View, the Nor Cal 2-AA regional title with a 76-43 victory over Tulare Union, and the program’s only state championship title to date with a 38-14 victory over Cajon-San Bernardino.

Like Walsh, St. Mary’s head coach Tony Franks is in his 25th straight year running his program. However, Franks is in his 29th year overall, having also served as the Rams’ head coach from 1984-87.

St. Mary’s features a prolific passing attack helmed by senior quarterback Jaden Galvan, who passed the 2,500-yard passing plateau in last week’s 38-24 win over Granite Bay in the Sac-Joaquin Section Division II championship game, and has two dangerous targets in senior Ivan Huerta and senior UCLA commit Kenneth Moore III. However, the night belonged to senior running back Diego Hernandez, who had 622 rushing yards on the year heading into the Rams’ final regular-season game Oct. 31, but has gone on to record two 200-yard games, including a blistering 224 yards on 24 carries against Granite Bay.