Serra rally stuns De La Salle

“It’s crazy, I’m still trying to process it,” said Alex Atkins, Serra’s senior kick holder who came up clutch on two previous point-after conversions. “But I’m excited. All the work we put in, it’s finally showing, and everyone could see.”

Everyone sure could see it, thanks to the game being nationally televised on ESPNU. And while the Padres showcased some stubborn defense, and a big night in the spread offense for junior quarterback Maui Smith — 20-of-28 passing for 239 yards and a touchdown — the game seemed to be slipping away from the Padres in the second half.

After Serra committed two demoralizing red-zone turnovers in the first half, the wind filled the sails of De La Salle in the third quarter. The Spartans — led by senior running back Charles Greer’s 23 carries for 129 yards and a touchdown — scored 14 unanswered points to take a 21-7 lead into the fourth quarter.

Walsh, though, made a keen observation in the second half — the wind would be at the Padres’ backs in the fourth quarter. And it was that wind on which he counted to start thinking “field goal” in the closing minutes.

“We’re traditionally a third-quarter team and that certainly didn’t happen tonight,” Walsh said. “When De La Salle took the wind in the third, I was like, ‘that’s great; that’s great for us.’ And obviously they did what they needed to do in the third. But I knew the wind would come into play. And I told them … ‘Guys, we obviously didn’t do a good job, but we now have the wind and we’re going to win this game.’”

It was a 16-play, 80-yard drive that righted the ship for Serra. Fourteen of those were pass plays, and Smith logged two QB keepers for the other two. The Padres were fortunate to get a call overturned on second-and-goal from the 9 when Smith’s pass to Joey Villaroman nearly squibbed through the receiver’s legs. The officials initially ruled it an incomplete pass, but after they conferred, it was ruled Villaroman squeezed it with his legs to keep it from hitting the ground, therefore making the 6-yard catch.

On the next play, Smith completed a TD pass to Villaroman in the front corner of the end zone to cut the deficit to 21-14 with 8:11 to play.

Smith was grace under fire, staying patient in the pocket all night long.

“He works well in the pocket,” Adtins said. “When pressure comes, he don’t budge.”

With junior middle linebacker Jabari Mann sidelined with a calf injury, the Padres relied on linebacker Danny Niu and senior defensive end Sam Goligolski to mind the Spartans’ attempts to spread the field. And after a De La Salle three-and-out deep in its own territory, the Padres took over at the Spartans’ 39.

The Padres ran the clock down to 3:06 when they tied it on a 4-yard toss to Jayden Green. Then came the interception of destiny.

With the Spartans facing third-and-20 from their own 10, safety Marley Alipati read a rollout option pass by quarterback Toa Faavae. Alipati was right there to haul in his first career interception at the 18 with 1:26 to play.

“I just knew something had to be up,” Alapati said. “De La Salle is known for their trick plays. Everybody was rolling right, the running back stayed, I knew something had to be up. I had to stay in my position, I had to stay disciplined. Coach put me in the best place I could be.”

Walsh said he was thinking field goal immediately. The Padres hammered out runs of 4, 5 and 2 yards to line up the ball in the middle of the field. Then Joudieh delivered what will certainly be remembered as one of the most clutch field goals in Serra history.

“It was surreal,” Atkins said. “But me and Dylan, we’ve been close over these years … so I had a hundred percent belief in him. And he did it.”