Niners have a problem with stopping the run

Two, quarterback Brock Purdy had his worst day as professional, throwing three ugly interceptions.

But three is a football adage true at every level of football. Ask any coach, from high school to the pros, and they’ll tell you the same thing: in addition to limiting turnovers, it’s about running the ball and stopping the run.

And the 49ers could do neither Sunday.

For really the first time this season, the 49ers struggled mightily in running the ball. Running back Jordan Mason was stuffed at the line of scrimmage all day long and the fact he actually ended up with 58 yards rushing was nothing short of a miracle, 26 of which came on one run.

But the biggest issue, and this has been going on all season now, is the 49ers’ inability to stop the run. How many times did the 49ers greet KC running back Kareem Hunt at the line of scrimmage, only to see him, time and again, end up with 4 or 5 yards? It seems like San Francisco defenders continue to try and tackle running backs up high, while the backs’ legs continue to churn for another several yards after initial contact.

While Hunt was held under a 100 yards, the Chiefs still managed to run for nearly 200 yards as a team.

Considering the 49ers held KC quarterback Patrick Mahomes in relative check Sunday, his job is infinitely easier when he faces third-and-2 or third-and-3 all game long.

Meanwhile, the 49ers could not gain a yard if their life depended on it on Sunday.

***

There haven’t been any real football upsets in the Peninsula Athletic League yet this season — until Friday night.

When I saw the final score on the MaxPreps.com app of the Half Moon Bay-Sequoia game — a 21-20 Ravens victory — I had to text Sequoia athletic director, Melissa Schmidt, to make sure that score was correct.

HMB came into the game with a perfect 6-0 record, while Sequoia, after an 0-4 start, had started to turn things around having won two in a row.

Maxpreps has changed the user interface on its app and there seems to be an issue with scorekeepers inputting wrong scores or not indicating when a game is over.

I’ve already been burned a couple times, so I wanted to make sure that result wasn’t a typo.

It wasn’t.

“Definitely not how I expected the night to go,” Schmidt texted.

Suddenly, the Ravens are in the mix for a PAL Ocean Division title as they, along with San Mateo, are the only two unbeaten teams in division play. The two play each other in two weeks.

***

It’s been little over a month since I was wiped out on the Hillsdale sideline during a Knights’ win over Woodside Sept. 13. Since then, I’ll admit I’m a little gun shy on the sidelines right now. There were a couple of flag football games that had me scrambling away and Friday night, I covered Hillsdale for the first time since that collision and I swear, it seemed like everyone was out to get me.

In all my years of being on a high school football sideline, I never had to scramble out of the way as much as I did during Capuchino’s 13-6 win. It had to have been a half dozen times of me having to get out of dodge as kids, fully suited in football gear, were constantly coming my way.

Thankfully, I managed to stay intact and the more I think about it, the more I realize how lucky I was that I didn’t sustain more of a serious injury during that wreck last month.

***

Capuchino broke out its “black out” uniforms for the first time this year when the Mustangs hosted Hillsdale Friday night.

Instead of the green and white uniforms they normally wear, the Mustangs were dressed out in an all-black kit — black tops, black pants, with green-infused gold numbers on the back and a green-tinted gold stripe down the pants, lined by green.

Definitely a clean look, but It’ll be interesting to see if Capuchino goes back to them, considering they struggled to pull out the win over the Knights.

Superstition can be a big determining factor in sports.

Nathan Mollat is in his 24th year covering high school sports in San Mateo County for the San Mateo Daily Journal. He can be reached by email: nathan@smdailyjournal.com.