One-and-done for most county football teams

Only Serra, the No. 1 ranked team in Northern California; Sequoia, the top seed in Division IV, and Menlo School, seeded fourth in Division III, advanced to the second round this weekend.

In the case of Sequoia, the Ravens needed double overtime to get past eighth-seeded Overfelt in a 51-50 win — a score I originally thought was a typo.

Making the flameout even more astounding was the fact that many of the games were not even competitive. Burlingame and Menlo-Atherton scored a touchdown each in a 37-7 loss to Hollister and a 30-7 defeat at the hands of Bellarmine, respectively.

Not only were the Panthers and Bears beaten, they were drubbed. Burlingame managed just 99 yards of offense, including just 2 yards rushing as the Panthers suffered six sacks at the hands of the Hollister defense.

M-A was marginally better offensively, finishing with 138 yards of offense.

Terra Nova, a 28-7 loser to Soquel, put up decent offensive numbers — 132 passing and 144 rushing for 276 yards. But the Tigers turned the ball over four times, including three interceptions.

Half Moon Bay, which dropped a 24-15 decision to St. Ignatius, led 15-3 at one point, but the Wildcats scored 21 unanswered to claim the victory. Woodside, which fell 47-10 to Seaside, got a strong performance from sophomore running back Evan Usher, but little else.

Sacred Heart Prep was involved in the closest game, dropping a 28-21 decision to Salinas. Tied at 14-all at halftime, Salinas scored a pair of touchdowns in the second half to lead 28-14. SHP got one of the touchdowns back and were driving for the tying score when time ran out.

San Mateo, a 49-28 loser to Branham, scored the most points of any of the county's losing teams, but the Bearcats gave up 49 points in back-to-back games.

While county teams mostly floundered in the first round, the six teams from the West Catholic Athletic League dominated, going a combined 5-1. That one loss was a WCAL-vs-WCAL matchup with St. Francis pulling out a 17-14 win over Sacred Heart Cathedral. Mitty outlasted Los Gatos in overtime, 29-28.

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Given the schedule Serra plays and how tough the West Catholic Athletic League usually is, what the Padres have done defensively this season may be one of the more overlooked aspects of what could go down as the greatest Serra squad of all time.

Serra has not allowed more than 7 points in its last eight games and has allowed more than 20 points just twice this season: a 24-21 win over De La Salle and a 42-30 decision over Central Catholic.

With St. Mary’s-Stockton’s 51-50 upset loss to Turlock in the quarterfinals of the Sac-Joaquin Section Division I playoffs, it opens up the road to the Open Division state bowl game for the Padres. The Rams were the one team that could go toe-to-toe with the Padres schedulewise, who also claimed wins over DLS and Central Catholic

CCS is not simply going to hand the title to Serra, however. The Padres still have a semifinal game against a dangerous Salinas team and whoever advances to the final on the other side of the bracket. But this Padres squad is on a mission — and it ends with a probable rematch against Mater Dei in the state championship game.

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If you needed more proof that CCS water polo is one of the best sections in Northern California, look no further than the three divisions in the Nor Cal tournament that begins Tuesday.

Of the 24 teams, a quarter are from the CCS, led by No. 1 overall seed Sacred Heart Prep in Division I. When you include No. 3 Bellarmine and No. 5 St. Francis, nearly half the teams in Division I are from the CCS and the WCAL, specifically.

Add in Valley Christian as the No. 5 seed in Division II and St. Ignatius the No. 2 seed in Division III and that’s five WCAL teams still playing.

There is one non-WCAL team from the CCS that qualified: Gunn, which captured the CCS Division I championship and earned the No. 1 seed in the Nor Cal Division III bracket.

While the girls’ Nor Cal tournament is not as CCS heavy, it is interesting in what teams qualified. The SHP girls’ are the only private school from the section to qualify for Nor Cal, earning the No. 4 seed in Division.

In the other two divisions, the CCS representatives are all public schools. CCS Open Division champ Soquel is No. 2 in Division I; Los Gatos and Leland, who qualified by virtue of making the CCS semifinals, are seeded No. 3 and No. 7, respectively, in Division II.

Nathan Mollat can be reached by email: nathan@smdailyjournal.com or by phone: 344-5200 ext. 117. To report scores or tips, email sports@smdailyjournal.com