Sacred Heart Prep Gators grab state football title

“Sacred Heart Prep runs in my blood. I’ve been going here since preschool,” the senior Herrell said. “I’ve seen us make deep playoff runs and come up short.

“[Being the team to win a state championship is] kind of hard to take it in.”

2021 has been a whirlwind for high school football in general, and Sacred Heart Prep, in particular. Everyone was simply thrilled to play any games during a pandemic-shortened 2020-21 spring season, one that saw the Gators go 3-1.

Fast forward to the 2021 fall season and it seemed everything went downhill as SHP came out of the gate losing four of its first five games and losing its final two regular-season games to limp into the playoffs with a 3-7 record. That the Gators made the playoffs drew side eyes aplenty, wondering how a team with a losing record could qualify for the postseason.

What losing record? With Saturday’s win, the Gators finish the 2021 season with a mark of 8-7. The only way to accomplish that, however, was to win five playoff games — and take down a Central Coast Section Division IV title, the Division 5-A Northern California crown and the CIF Division 5-A state championship in the process.

Mission accomplished.

“When we were 3-7 … someone said if we go all the way, we’d be 8-7,” Herrell said. “That sounded so far away.”

But as the playoff wins kept piling up, that goal got closer and closer. The Gators put together an all-around strong performance in a 20-0 win over University Prep-Redding in the Nor Cal championship game the previous week and followed that with a near identical performance against Righetti Saturday in the state title game. The Gators used their running game to control the clock, got just enough out of the passing game and unleashed a defense that simply got better as the season went along.

“We knew we had the guys to be an elite defense,” said Shay O’Kelly, a junior defensive lineman who recovered a fumble and came up with a fourth-down stop to help limit Righetti (6-9) to 232 yards of offense as SHP came up with three turnovers, stopped the Warriors at the 1-yard line and allowed them into the red zone only once the entire the game.

“As we kept getting reps, we got so much better.”

Ryan Boivin led Righetti with 60 yards rushing on 13 carries. Quarterback Abel McCormack completed 10 of 12 passes for 112 yards.

SHP finished the game with 290 yards of offense, fairly evenly balanced between running and passing. Andrew Latu led the charge on the ground, accounting for 51 of the Gators’ 153 yards rushing. Herrell, meanwhile, completed 8 of 12 passes for 137 yards. Jake York was his main target, finishing with three catches for 99 yards.

O’Kelly and the SHP defense set the tone on the first drive of the day as the Gators forced a three-and-out. Then it was offense’s turn to put its stamp on the game. Starting from the Warriors’ 42 with just over 10 minutes to play in the first quarter following a 19-yard punt, the Gators proceeded to methodically move down the field.

The Gators faced its first big decision on just the fourth play of the drive, as Anthony Noto bashed forward for 3 yards on a fourth-and-1 at the Righetti 33. Harrell then hit Jake York on a crossing route for 16 yards down to the 1. Three plays later, Noto scored his fourth touchdown in five games as he banged into the end zone from 2 yards out on a toss around the right edge for a 7-0 lead.

More importantly, the drive took nearly six minutes off the clock.

Righetti took the ensuing kickoff and starting from its own 22, embarked on its best drive of the day. Using a mixture of running backs and various misdirection, the Warriors moved to the SHP 18 by the end of the first quarter before the Gators defense came up with their first huge stop of the game as the Warriors has a first down at the SHP 6-yard line early in the second period.

“It’s not an easy offense to defend,” SHP head coach Mark Grieb said.

They gained one yard, down to the 5, on first down. A sweep on second down went for no gain and McCormack at QB rolled to his right before scrambling up the middle to the 1-yard line on third.

On fourth-and-goal at the 1, McCormack tried to sneak it into the end zone, only to be met by SHP’s Luke De Grosz at the point of attack to stop McCormack short and give the ball back to the Gators.

SHP then put together a statement drive as the Gators moved from one end of the field to the other, going 98 yards on 13 plays that burned another seven-plus minutes off the clock before settling on a 19-yard Sean Tinsley field goal.

But the drive was in danger of ending early, if not for the sure hands of York. On the first play of the drive, at the 1-yard line, Herrell took the snap and looked right for a quick hit to York.

But the ball was tipped at the line of scrimmage and for a brief moment Harrell said he thought it was bad news.

But York came to the rescue, making the catch and darting inside and upfield for a 38-yard gain.

“Jake’s a playmaker. He really made something out of nothing,” Herrell said of York’s catch and run. “When you get a play like that, it was a big momentum shifter.”

Said Grieb: “Seemed like every time we needed a big play, [York] was there.”

The Gators faced a fourth-and-goal at the Warriors’ 2 and following a timeout, opted for the Tinsley field goal for a 10-0 lead at halftime.

“I hadn’t even thought of kicking a field goal,” Herrell said. “But to get points in a game like this is important.”

The third quarter was mostly played between the 30s as both teams struggled to find traction offensively. SHP, however, just kept bleeding the clock. There was a drive that ended with the Gators turning the ball over on downs, but one that took five minutes off clock.

“[Righetti] made some adjustments to slow us down,” Grieb said. “It was all about moving the chains (in the third quarter). I think that can be harder than hitting a big play.”

Early in the fourth quarter, Righetti found itself as deep in SHP territory as it had since the first quarter, earning a first down at the Gators’ 21 following a 24-yard, McCormack-to-Elias Martinez completion.

But after a 2-yard run, the Righetti ball carrier coughed it up, with SHP’s Andrew Rocha landing on it to thwart the Warriors’ last best scoring opportunity.

The Gators turned that turnover into the game-icing score, as they marched 87 yards on 11 plays, taking nearly six minutes off the clock and all but clinching the state championship following a Luis Mendoza 2-yard run for a 16-0 lead just under five minutes to play.

With just over a minute to go, it was unofficially official as the SHP sideline gave Grieb the obligatory water cooler shower.

“It’s great to be the first (team to win a state championship in school history),” Grieb said. “But it’s even greater to do something, this big, for the school. And even greater what the kids will take away from this season.”

Added Herrell: “This is a true testament to know how hard we fought. Winning this proves to ourselves who we really are.”