Sacred Heart Prep set to face Righetti-Santa Maria in CIF Division 5-A state championship game

Grieb has been in his share of championship games — he won three Arena Football League championships as a quarterback for the San Jose Sabercats and was a first-year SHP assistant when the Gators last made a state title game appearance in 2015 — but that certainly hasn’t blunted his excitement for Saturday’s 1 p.m. home game, when the Gators host Righetti-Santa Maria for the state title.

“I’m excited. …Why wouldn’t I be?” Grieb said. “I think at this point, [we’re] just happy to be playing football and having another week.”

Which has been the mantra of the SHP football team. After every playoff win, the team has gathered together and started chanting: “One more week! One more week!”

While the chant seems limited to the playoff, Grieb said it’s actually a mantra the Gators used all season.

“It’s a mantra we have that I really like,” Grieb said. “You play the regular season to get one more week (in the playoffs). Every single week, you’re playing for one more week.”

Many would consider the Gators lucky to have been given “one more week” after going 3-7 during the regular season. But SHP is a juggernaut compared to it opponent. Righetti won just one game during the regular season, going 1-8 while playing in the Central Section’s Mountain Athletic League. Despite finishing fifth in the six-team league, the Warriors are the only team left standing.

“Righetti, they got an even more losing record (than we do) and they’ve won all their playoff games,” Grieb said.

But since ending the regular season, Righetti (6-8) has gone on a roll, having won five straight playoff games, outscoring the opposition 123-37. When the Warriors beat Madera Liberty in the Central Section Division 5 championship game, 34-7, it marked the first football section title in the school’s nearly 60-year history. It was also the first section title in football for any school in the Santa Maria Valley, which is located between San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara.

The Warriors then punched their ticket to the state title game by beating Northwood-Irvine 14-7 in the So Cal 5-A championship game.

Righetti’s rise coincides with the Warriors gaining experience and getting key players back from injury. As reported by the Santa Maria Times, Righetti lost its starting quarterback, Braden Claborn, during a Week 7 39-35 loss to Arroyo Grande. Abel McCormack has been taking the snaps since and now has the offense humming.

The Santa Maria Times also reported the return of linebacker Brian Monighetti, who was injured in the regular-season finale and made it back for the Central Section title game. His return loomed huge as he had a pick-6 against Madera, one of two defensive touchdowns during the game.

The Santa Maria Times quoted Righetti head coach Tony Payne saying about Monighetti: “He’s the ‘X’ factor on defense.”

In last week’s So Cal title game, the Warriors saw the return of offensive lineman Malachi Broome, who had been injured all season until being cleared for the section semifinal game, the Santa Maria Times reported.

“They’re a competitive team that played a tough schedule, similar to us,” Grieb said. “They have some playmakers. The quarterback (McCormack) is athletic and accurate. They run the wing-T system. They have a good receiver who can run and who they’ll use on the fly sweep.

“Defensively, they move around a lot. From looking at them on film, they’re not a huge team, but they play well and tough.”

If one didn’t know any better, one would think Grieb was describing his squad. SHP (7-7) comes into the title game on a roll itself, as the Gators have won four in a row — all in the pressure cooker of the playoffs. The Gators have outscored their playoff opponents 155-42 and have pitched a pair of shutouts, including a 20-0 win over University Prep-Redding in the Nor Cal Division 5-A championship game.

While the Gators will be without the services of do-everything Zach Friere, who was injured in SHP’s 51-28 win over Homestead in the Central Coast Section Division IV title game, the Gators still have plenty of talent to make up for his absence. Running backs Andrew Latu and Luis Mendoza have combined to rush for nearly 1,300 yards and 23 touchdowns. Anthony Noto has become a key goal-line back, having scored in three of the Gators’ four playoff games thus far.

But when the Gators’ running game struggled against University Prep in the Nor Cal title game, quarterback Jack Herrell rose to the occasion. Herrell, who has thrown for more than 1,200 yards, was benched midway through the season, but has since regained the starting position. He wasn’t needed in SHP’s 42-14 semifinal win over Hillsdale, during which the Gators didn’t throw a single pass.

But against University Prep, which held the Gators to just 135 yards rushing on 37 carries, an average of 3.6 yards a carry, Herrell came through. He completed 6-of-12 passes for 199 yards and a score.

While Righetti is in the deep end when it comes to playoff football, the SHP program is used to post-season success. The Gators are a six-time section champion and two-time Nor Cal champion. But a program’s past has little to do with its present, so this is all new for both teams involved. So from players to the coaching staffs, everyone is excited to play for a state title.

“I think all of our coaches, we’re all competitive, too. We want to win like the players,” Grieb said. “I think [my players] are excited about the opportunity, but I don’t see them overly emotional about it. It’s a good experience for them. They’ve probably had more people congratulating them and giving them a little more credit (now) than we did during the regular season.”