Serra rides big first quarter past Folsom in season opener

After appearing in the CIF Open Division State Championship Bowl for two straight years, Serra entered the season ranked No. 1 in Nor Cal by Calpreps.com. The Padres did nothing Saturday to assuage that standing. In fact, head coach Patrick Walsh’s squad jumped into the state top 10, moving up to No. 6 from No. 11. Folsom (1-1) is currently ranked No. 2 in Nor Cal and No. 14 in the state.

“We’re ranked No. 1, it’s not a mystery to anybody,” Walsh said. “It’s very, very hard to deal with those types of things, and that’s why I think it’s harder. It’s harder to be the top dog. Sometimes I don’t think we’re tough enough. I think a little bit of that is creeping into our team. I’m the head coach … and I kind of sensed a little bit of the entitlement, like: ‘Hey, we’re up 21 (points), we’re good.’ … It doesn’t work that way.”

The dizzying display of first-quarter offense certainly showed what Serra is capable of, though.

The Padres opened the season in style with a shock-and-awe option pass on the first play from scrimmage. Junior running back Nano Latu set the trick play in motion, taking a backward pass off the left flank, then spinning it downfield for a long bomb to a wide-open Charlie Willey to score a stunning 80-yard touchdown.

“It was a beautiful throw,” Walsh said. “But we called it because that’s the way he throws it in practice. He’s a left-hander, it was a beautiful throw, it was a beautiful catch, and never take for granted the execution of a brilliant play like that.”

By virtue of Latu’s one long completion, he’d finish the day as Serra’s passing leader. Padres quarterback Maealiuaki Smith added a 60-yard touchdown strike to tight end Cole Harrison midway through the first quarter to make it 14-0. But Smith — the senior ranks as the No. 1 overall player in the Metro Bay Area by the San Francisco Chronicle — struggled with his accuracy throughout to finish 4-of-15 passing for 65 yards.

Folsom’s strong fourth-quarter push — scoring all 14 points in the closing period — helped the Sacramento County powerhouse finish with 303 total yards on the day. Serra finished with 290.

However, 189 of the Bulldogs’ yards came in the fourth quarter, one that saw them get on the board with 6:11 to play on a 30-yard touchdown pass from sophomore quarterback Ryder Lyons to Daymion Rivera, and again with 2:30 remaining on a gallant 13-yard run by Lyons.

“I think the game was probably not as close as it ended,” Folsom head coach Paul Doherty said. “They kind of took it to us. They’re a good football team. They beat us.”

The difference in the game was Serra’s third score, coming with 1:02 left in the opening quarter. Facing third-and-17 from their own 41, the Padres relied on back-to-back Folsom penalties — a 15-yard face mask followed by a 5-yard offside — to extend a drive spanning 72 yards on 10 plays. Senior running back Danny Niu capped the drive with a 6-yard scoring dive.

From there, Serra’s defense went to work. The Padres held Folsom to 77 first-half yards, and were sweating Lyons throughout.

Serra played most of its defensive starters for all four quarters, and the tenacity hardly wavered. Defensive end Taniela Folau racked up 1 1/2 sacks and a fumble recovery, as the Padres got to Lyons four times — with linebacker Niu, senior linebacker Jabari Mann and senior defensive end Collin Tahitua also recording sacks — and otherwise flushing the sophomore from the pocket with abandon.

“We’re always looking to fly around and make plays and limit that score,” Folau said. “But we had to keep the [starters] in. We started to let loose a little bit. So, we’re looking to keep our foot onto next week and the weeks after that.”

Folsom did look to make some headway in the first half. The Bulldogs countered Serra’s 21-0 advantage by opening the second quarter with a hurry-up offense that put the Padres on their heels. Lyons moved the ball with a tempo, picking up a third-down conversion with an 8-yard keeper, and later advancing to the Serra 35 with a 10-yard pass to senior Brian Ray III.

“We always try to play fast, but that specific brand, we went to it earlier than we have in the past,” Doherty said.

The Padres, however, were tactical in using two timeouts on the drive to slow Folsom’s momentum. Serra ultimately forced a turnover on downs, with a third-down pass into the end zone overshooting a diving receiver, and a fourth-down pass being denied with excellent step-for-step man coverage by junior safety Teddy Chung.

The Bulldogs finished the day converting 2 of 11 third-down tries, and 1 of 5 on fourth downs.

“It feels good,” Folau said of the win. “Senior year, I’m just looking to ball out with my brothers one last time.”

The Padres face another test this week, hosting De La Salle-Concord this coming Saturday at 2:30 p.m. Last year, Serra defeated Walsh’s alma mater De La Salle for the first time in program history with a 24-21 comeback. The Spartans (0-1) fell to Southern California power Orange Lutheran 35-14 Friday night.

‘A great way to start the day’

Latu’s touchdown pass on the Padres’ first play of the season was as poetic as it was accurate.

Serra has added a new portion of seating at Brady Family Stadium with a three-section block of bleachers beyond the south end zone. Despite the two sides of regular sideline seating being jam packed, however, only 50 or so Serra students occupied just one half of just one section of the new end zone bleachers.

But those fans got quite a thrill.

Willey’s long route up the left side led Latu’s touchdown throw on a straight trajectory toward that section of bleachers, with the junior receiver sprinting directly toward his cheering classmates as he reached the end zone.

The Padres’ fantastic start put a lot of pressure on Latu. While the running back did gain some varsity experience during the playoffs last season as a sophomore, the now-junior was anticipating his first varsity pass on the scripted play heading into Saturday’s game.

“I was nervous … because that was the first play,” Latu said. “Everyone was hyping up before. Everyone was like: ‘You’ve got to get this pass! You’ve got to get this pass!’ … I got in the game, my legs were shaking, I was nervous.”

Latu was a likely candidate for the play scripted by Serra offensive coordinator Darius Bell because he saw some time at quarterback with the junior-varsity team last season. That doesn’t mean the self-described Mark Jackson-type QB has much experience throwing. Latu said he attempted just a few passes last season with the JV squad and completed just one.

So, prior to Saturday’s game, Latu took all the pregame warmup throws he could. To disguise his role in the running back option, however, he blended in by playing catch with Smith as to appear only to be warming up the starting quarterback.

“I started practicing in warmups, but I couldn’t make it obvious, of course,” Latu said.

What did ultimately tip the Padres’ hand was when the ball was placed at the 20-yard line just before the first play from scrimmage. With the opening kickoff taken on the goal line for a touchback, the referees initially spotted the ball in the middle of the field, but Serra asked the ball to be moved to the right hash mark, giving them additional room on the left side for their left-handed running back to throw.

“They moved the ball to the right hash, and I was like: ‘I don’t know if that’s going to tell everybody what’s going on,’” Walsh said. “We actually did that in 2019 against Pittsburg, and sadly we dropped it; it was wide open. So, look, we needed all seven of them. It doesn’t matter if you get them in the first quarter or the fourth quarter, but it was a great way to start the day.”

The execution of the play, though — with Latu motioning to the left flank well behind the line of the quarterback, leaving Willey all alone downfield — was perfect.

“When he called ‘in motion,’ I caught it,” Latu said. “I saw him wide open, I just launched it.”

Walsh cautioned against the downside of Serra’s fast start, however.

“I’ve been part of so many games that I know sometimes that’s the worst thing that can happen to you in some way because it’s kind of a breath out, like: ‘Thank God, we’re going to kill these guys,’” Walsh said. “Clearly that didn’t happen, but it was a great way to start the game.”