Red-hot Sacred Heart Prep football hammers Riordan

Well, despite being tagged as underdogs heading into Saturday’s non-league home matchup with Riordan-SF, the Gators (3-1) followed the same formula, pitching a shutout into the fourth quarter in a 35-7 mauling of the Crusaders (2-1).

“I’m just so proud of this bunch today,” Grieb said. “They were hearing it all week about how Riordan was going to kick our butt. Everybody picked Riordan to win. Even their classmates were telling them that Riordan was going to beat us. So, I know they felt like they had a chip on their shoulder coming into this game, and they played like it.”

While SHP’s defense held Riordan to 95 first-half yards, Gators quarterback Mitchell Taylor and his adept corps of receivers went to work for two early scores. SHP hit pay dirt on each of its first two possessions. And while Taylor totaled just two passes through those two drives, they were both touchdown strikes — a 20-yard pearl to senior Carter Shaw, followed by a 30-yard fade up the right side to senior Brandon Hsing.

Taylor was 10-of-13 passing for a career-high 194 yards and two TDs on the afternoon.

“My receivers were open every play,” Taylor said. “When our run game is so good, and they put everyone in the box with man coverage, with no safety over top, it’s bound to be open.”

Gators running back Andrew Latu was the equalizer out of the backfield. The two-way senior standout not only wreaked havoc at middle linebacker on defense, he was a workhorse on offense, carrying 18 times for 93 yards and a touchdown.

On SHP’s first scoring drive, Latu opened with runs of 5 and 18 yards, sandwiching with a 40-yard ramble by senior slot Andrew Rocha. With the ball at the Riordan 5-yard line, the Gators moved backward after recovering their own fumble, then getting flagged 5 yards for a false start. But Taylor solved the problem by finding Shaw on a post route in the back of the end zone, with Shaw pivoting into the air for a remarkable 180-degree spiral to catch the ball high in his hands for the score.

“Before the play I knew it was going to be a touchdown,” Taylor said. “They just can’t guard that play. They just can’t guard him man on man.”

Then Taylor showed off SHP’s receiver depth in exquisite fashion, completing six first-half passes, all to different receivers, including Latu, Rocha, Luke Maxwell and Charlie Stuart. And after he gave the Gators a 14-0 lead with a strike to Hsing with 1:18 remaining in the first quarter, SHP opened the next drive adding a seventh receiver to the mix, as Maxwell hurled a haphazard option pass downfield for an 18-yard completion to tight end Tyler Wong. In the second half, senior John Chung added a 47-yard reception.

“They’re a hardworking group,” Grieb said of his receivers. “I think you saw a glimpse of that today, that when my number’s called, I’m going to make a play. I think you have to credit Mitchell on that too, that he’s finding those guys down the field and making those accurate throws. And I thought he played great today.”

The Gators scored again in the final minute of the first half on a 4-yard run by Anthony Noto. Two more scores in the third quarter — a 2-yard pitch to Latu, followed by a 1-yard dive by Teo Casares — invoked a running clock to start the fourth.

To that point, the Gators defense was playing flawlessly. Linebacker Latu and senior Shay O’Kelly were mopping up with abandon all day long. But SHP won the day up front, with senior defensive tackle RJ Stephens and a sophomore trio with starter Aseli Fangupo and reserves Daniel Gee and Chase Smith rotating through.

“We knew Riordan was a really good team and we didn’t want to underestimate them,” Fangupo said. “A lot of people had us not winning this game, so we had a lot to prove this game.”

Another defensive tackle, junior Marat Misra, got to Riordan quarterback Michael Mitchell Jr. for a sack midway through the second quarter. From there, Stephens was frequently getting penetration, starting by rushing a pass on the ensuing third-down play.

“Our game plan coming into this game was just to cause pressure,” Fangupo said. “There were some places where I had to take a lot of double-teams, but I knew if RJ got a one-on-one, I knew he was going to cause pressure. So, I was fine with that the whole game.”

SHP netted two interceptions on the day, one by Latu in the first half, and another by Maxwell in the second.

The Gators outgained the Crusaders 360-242 in total yards. Riordan’s most proficient weapon was junior running back Charlie Johnson, who totaled 12 carries for 80 yards and a touchdown, all coming on second-half carries. Johnson’s 1-yard scoring run came on the final play of the contest.

“So far the only game they really scored on us was Cathedral (in SHP’s Week 1 loss),” Fangupo said. “It was just off a flea-flicker and a couple mistakes. I think we’ve still got a lot more to prove. Our defense, we’ve got a lot more younger guys … they’re still getting a lot more experience. I think we’ve still got a lot more we haven’t shown yet.”

Mitchell was 12-of-25 passing for 83 yards and two interceptions. However, one of his completions, a 5-yarder to Zachary Jones in the fourth quarter, shouldn’t have counted. Mitchell did complete a legal pass on the play, to himself, as a batted pass landed back in his hands. He initially began to run with the ball, but then threw 5 yards upfield to an open Jones.

The second throw was ruled a legal pass at the time. But referee Mac Parfet issued a statement after the game via email saying: “The double pass was illegal. My crew and I made a mistake at the game today.”

Riordan, led by first-year head coach Adhir Ravipati, opens West Catholic Athletic League play this week, traveling to Valley Christian Friday at 7 p.m. Ravipati formerly served as head coach at Menlo-Atherton from 2015-18, and was on Tim Tulloch’s coaching staff at College of San Mateo from 2019-21.

SHP has one more non-league tune-up this week, hosting Los Gatos for a rare Friday home game. Kickoff at Gator Nation Field is scheduled for 4 p.m.