Generally cloudy. Slight chance of a shower late. High 66F. Winds SSE at 10 to 15 mph..
Cloudy skies with periods of rain late. Low around 60F. Winds SSE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall around a quarter of an inch. Locally heavy rainfall possible.
Updated: November 12, 2025 @ 4:39 am
Lukas Fitzgerald rushes Saturday in the Little Big Game.
For the third straight year, the rivalry “Paw” trophy will make its home at San Mateo High School.
The San Mateo Bearcats (7-3) rallied late for a 24-14 win over rival Burlingame in the 98th annual Little Big Game played Saturday morning at MaryAnn Johnson Memorial Field. The game was tied 14-all late in the fourth quarter, when the Bearcats scored the game-winner on a 6-yard quarterback keeper by Lukas Fitzgerald.
Fitzgerald finished the day with 20 carries for 171 yards and three touchdowns.
“Just excited,” San Mateo head coach Jeff Scheller said. “They had a lot of confidence going into the game. I think Burlingame played great. Burlingame probably went into the game as an underdog and didn’t feeling like an underdog. So, ‘relief’ is the word.”
Scheller’s sigh of relief was twofold, as San Mateo’s 20th year head coach attended the opening game of a Saturday doubleheader, the Central Coast Section Division II flag football finals, also played between San Mateo and Burlingame. San Mateo’s lady footballers did their part for a doubleheader sweep, knocking off the Panthers 7-6.
“I think it was really great for the girls, the excitement of that and them having a huge crowd ... and then the people from San Mateo’s side all excited hanging around,” Scheller said. “So, I think overall it was really good for girls’ sports.”
The boys’ game went down to the wire as well.
Burlingame (6-4) possessed the ball for nearly the opening seven minutes of the game, but couldn’t score. San Mateo took over and marched 84 yards, with Fitzgerald getting the Bearcats on the board with a 34-yard touchdown run.
The Panthers tied it in the second quarter on a 6-yard TD pass from Nick Armstrong (13-of-23 passing for 143 yards and one TD) to Danny O’Sullivan. The two teams again traded touchdowns in the second half, with San Mateo going up 14-7 on Fitzgerald’s 45-yard rushing score. But in the fourth quarter, O’Sullivan hauled in his second TD of the day, this time on a 9-yard pass from Mark O’Grady.
Burlingame then looked to be in business by recovering its second fumble in as many San Mateo possessions. But with the ball just across midfield, the Bearcats’ defense held to force a punt. San Mateo then staged an 80-yard go-ahead drive. Burlingame took the ball back but went three-and-out, and San Mateo capped the day with a 36-yard field goal from Yianni Fitzgerald.
“For so long it wasn’t a rivalry,” Scheller said. “So, the fact that our kids have confidence again in playing in this game, it’s good for us, it’s good for our community.”
Yianni Fitzgerald also finished with a game-high nine tackles, including one of San Mateo’s four sacks. Junior defensive end Bryce Cone recorded Burlingame’s only sack, while junior Dylan Black and freshman Siale Po’oi-Unga each had fumble recoveries.
San Mateo honored two of its great teams of yesteryear, the 1974 and 1985 undefeated football teams, during a halftime ceremony.
“It was just kind of thrown together, but it was rally cool to see them,” Scheller said.
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We are wasting out money on the biggest losers in society and telling normal people they are the problem.
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