Sequoia hopes third time a charm

Saturday night, Mems will lead Sequoia onto the CCS championship stage for third time in program history when the No. 4-seed Ravens square off with No. 3 Leland-San Jose in the CCS Division V finals at Kathleen MacDonald High School at 7 p.m.

“I was there at the (2010) championship game,” Mems said. “Most of our kids were no more than 3, 4, 5 the last time Sequoia made it this far. So I told them to soak this in and try to get one for the school and for the community.”

Known as the Cherokees in 2010, Sequoia fell 47-14 to Willow Glen in the Division II championship game, the program’s second CCS finals appearance. The first came in 1986, a 9-7 loss to San Mateo in the Division II North finals.

This season stands out as one of the unlikeliest CCS finals teams, seeing as Sequoia opened the year with four straight losses. Getting outscored 95-35 in those four non-league games, most of them were not even particularly close.

Then came the game-changer, the revitalizing comeback of senior Jordan Crockett. The All-Peninsula Athletic League Ocean Division running back opened the year with a season-high 181 rushing yards against Fremont-Sunnyvale in the Ravens’ first win of the season. He’s played in eight games, cracking the 100-yard rushing mark in all of them, while totaling 1,147 yards on the season so far.

More importantly, Sequoia has posted a 7-1 record since Crockett’s return, including a 5-0 record to earn a stunning PAL Ocean Division championship. Since then, the Ravens have been the ones doing the dominating, winning their first two playoff games 33-6 over Gunn-Palo Alto and 21-6 at South City.

“It is catching people off guard because none of these guys are household names,” Mems said. “Our seniors have come to fruition and that’s a great thing to see. They’ve worked together as a unit and are not relying on other people to carry the load.”

The Leland Chargers have gone even longer than Sequoia since their last appearance in the CCS finals. At the time, it seemed the Chargers had emerged as a perennial powerhouse, playing in their fifth CCS championship game in six years. That was 1996, however, when Leland fell 22-6 to St. Francis-Mountain View in Division II. The program is now 2-3 in CCS finals all-time, with Division II titles in 1991 and ’93.

Leland, led by head coach Kelly King Jr., is 9-3 overall, including a 4-1 mark for a second-place finish in the Blossom Valley Athletic League Santa Teresa-Valley Division. The Chargers are fronted by senior two-way standouts Hudson Vye and Brady Hernandez. The two have split time equally on offense, with Vye in the backfield and Hernandez in the wildcat. But it’s the Chargers’ defense — with Vye and senior Wyatt Markos at linebacker, and Hernandez at cornerback — that has done much of the heavy lifting. Opponents are averaging 13.8 points per game against Leland this season.

Come the postseason, however, Sequoia’ defense has been a revelation. Against Gunn, the Ravens allowed just three first-downs in the first half, and ultimately held the Titans to 184 total yards with 12 first-downs overall. Then on a rain-soaked trip to reigning CCS Division V champion South City, the Ravens gave up 36 total yards and just one first-down on the night.

So, one would think there would be some household names on Sequoia’s defense. But a glut of injuries against Gunn saw the starting defensive line all but obliterated, with defensive ends Chapel Meza Thorborne and Nicco Veimau, and defensive tackle Aedan Macias all getting carted off. Of the original lineup, only All-PAL first-team defensive tackle Lesoni Olive made the start against South City.

“The world will never know how good this team could have been because we’re not fully healthy, and we never have been fully healthy,” Mems said. “But this team right here plays great complementary football. ... There is really no front-runner.”

The PAL certainly agreed. While Mems was named PAL Ocean Division Coach of the Year, none of the 10 players awards went to the Ocean Division champion Ravens. Half Moon Bay running back Adler Halterman was named PAL Ocean Player of the Year, while San Mateo’s Emmanuel Fitzgerald and Yianni Fitzgerald were named Offensive Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year, respectively.

Sequoia had just four players named to the All-PAL Ocean first team, while Crockett and Olive on offense, while Olive, senior linebacker Mosese Tangitau and senior defensive back Marco Baisch earned honors on defense.

With the rash of injuries on the defensive line, Tangitau moved to defensive end with Crockett filling in off the opposite edge, and Viliami Fuka, junior Calvin Lundell and freshman Johnathan Huffer all being thrust into action in the CCS semifinals.

“It was definitely a committee,” Mems said.

Through two CCS games, Leland has gone to the air for just one pass play, including senior quarter Jacob Gibson throwing just one 5-yard pass in rainy conditions during last Friday’s 35-14 win over No. 2 Alisal in the semifinals.

Sequoia quarterback Shawn Royer is 11-of-18 passing for 162 yards in the postseason, including four completions for 41 yards against South City in the semis. Royer has proven an astute captain of the offense in his first year starting under center, and he and Mems have a special bond after Royer played his freshman year with the junior-varsity team in Mems’ first year as coach.

“Shawn knows this system in and out,” Mems said. “He likes to think he knows this system better than me. But we work in lockstep.”