SHP Gators fall in Nor Cal Division 6-A finals

In the end, the fiery Summerville Bears (13-1) rallied to a 45-28 victory to claim the Nor Cal Division 6-A title Saturday at Gator Nation Field. SHP’s elimination loss marks the end of the San Mateo County high school football season, as the Gators were the only county team to qualify for the Nor Cal playoffs.

“It’s an honor,” SHP senior Jack Burton said. “Definitely our coaching (got us here) and also we’re just able to come together as one, as a unit, and just play our best game. They were a good team, but at the end of the day I’m glad I had my brothers. We’re brothers forever.”

At times, the Gators (7-7) looked on their game. SHP outgained Summerville 418-315 in total yards. And the front four of SHP’s defensive line did well to limit early gains of Summerville’s run-intensive quarterback Bryce Leveroos, who totaled 11 first-half carries for 18 yards.

Thanks to two consecutive short fields, however, two of the QB’s first-half runs went for touchdowns. He added another first-half TD via the pass. Then the gritty junior turned it up in the second half to finish with 30 carries for 104 yards and five touchdown runs.

“We knew that ... [SHP’s] linebackers and their line were going to be one of the better units that we’ve faced all year,” said Sean Leveroos, Summerville’s head coach and Bryce Leveroos’ father. “Then we just did what we call bonus running, which is one additional blocker and just try to even that out. So, we knew we were going to have a tough workload ahead of us.”

Bit by the turnover bug

The Gators were in great shape early.

After stopping Summerville’s first possession near midfield, SHP went on the march. Taking from their own 32, the Gators surged across midfield and into the red zone on a 46-yard jet sweep by Sasha Bamdad. Two plays later, Maxime Morelle cruised around the left side for an 18-yard touchdown run, staking SHP to a 7-0 lead less than five minutes into the game.

Then came the turnovers, something head coach Mark Grieb said has been problematic for his Gators this season. SHP entered the day with 10 lost fumbles and six interceptions on the season.

“At times, yeah, for sure,” Grieb said. “The self-inflicted ones are the ones that really hurt.”

SHP’s defense produced another stop after the initial score, with the Summerville punt putting it at the Gators’ 25. Two plays later, SHP fumbled the snap, with Bears linebacker Owen Herrera recovering. Bryce Leveroos capitalized with a 24-yard pass to Luke Larson to the 1, then ran it in on a QB keeper for a 1-yard touchdown, tying the score 7-7.

Then came one of the most pivotal moments in the game. After a touchback, the Gators took over at their own 20. Two plays prior to fumbling it away again, SHP had a great chance to strike pay dirt when junior quarterback Nico Pollioni spun a pass up the left sideline on a fly route to senior Elliot Spieker. With the Gators driving toward the east end zone, the wide-open Spieker had to look back into the sun and never saw the ball, which sailed right through his fingers.

Instead of a breakaway score, SHP fumbled again, with Summerville recovering at SHP’s 29. The Bears proceeded to convert two third-down tries, the second finding the end zone when, on third-and-8, Bryce Leveroos hit Larson with a 14-yard scoring pass to put Summerville ahead 14-7 with 9:19 to go in the half.

“We have been very fortunate to be on the positive side (of turnovers) and it’s something that we harp and harp and harp — the line of scrimmage and the takeaway battle.” Sean Leveroos said.

There was one more turnover to come in the half.

SHP moved the ball on each of its next two possessions. But a fourth-and-5 try from Summerville’s 27 saw a Pollioni pass batted down to force a turnover on downs. SHP’s defense forced a three-and-out. But after the Gators moved the ball across midfield, Pollioni misfired for Summerville’s Larson to come up with an interception at the Bears’ 39.

Summerville went right to a stunning trick play, setting it up with a short backward toss to Orlando Lopez, who locked and loaded, and heaved a pass 44 yards downfield for a completion to senior Mathew Hike at the 17. Two plays later, Bryce Leveroos ran it in for a 5-yard score, sending it to halftime with the Bears leading 21-7.

More injuries for battered Gators

All told, SHP’s defense was on the field for 14 minutes, 2 seconds in the first half.

“Well, a lot of our defense plays offense, so the energy level in general, I think the guys were tired,” Grieb said. “They were out there a long time, absorbing those downhill runs. That’s what Summerville does well.”

Grieb said is wasn’t the fatigue, but the miscues that hurt the Gators most.

“I don’t think it was a physical issue in any way,” he said. “I think we just made mistakes that cost us.”

A banged up linebacker corps also hampered the Gators, who entered the day without junior linebacker Andrew Shen, who ranks fourth on the team with 4.8 tackles per game. Then, late in the first half, Morelle — who also plays linebacker — came hobbling off with an ankle injury and missed the rest of the game, forcing running back Greg Gamitian into linebacker duty.

“We’ve been battling adversity all season with injuries,” Burton said. “But it just comes down the next man up. And Greg Gamitian, shoutout to my boy, he’s a great player. He stepped up and did the job. But we couldn’t get the job done today.”

Summerville went on to score on each of its first four possessions of the second half.

“Our defense, the first half, felt ready,” SHP defensive tackle Aseli Fangupo said. “Then we came out the second half, and things just started to go downhill, and it started to catch up with us.”

One wild second half

The second half included more fireworks, for sure.

The Gators took the second-half kickoff but were stopped for a three-and-out. Then disaster struck when punter Nathan Fox had to gather a difficult snap and contacted the turf with his knee in the process. The ball was whistled down at SHP’s 26, and Summerville capitalized on the short field once again.

The Bears used six plays, capped by a 3-yard scoring run by Bryce Leveroos, to go up 28-7 midway through the third quarter. But SHP answered back, moving 75 yards on eight plays, capped by an 8-yard scoring run by Bamdad to make it 28-13. Summerville used over five minutes on the ensuing drive, with Bryce Leveroos slamming in on fourth-and-goal from the 1 to up the lead to 35-13.

The Bears’ QB scored his fifth TD two minutes later on a 3-yard keeper, but not before SHP turned to its bag of tricks. The Gators sandwiched Bryce Leveroos’ final score with two TDs of their own, both on long pass plays — first on a 63-yard option pass from the receiver Burton to senior McKinley Palmer. Then with 8:41 left in regulation, left-hander sophomore Wyatt Staley chucked a long pass to Palmer, who rambled for a 58-yard score.

Summerville kicker Bryson Benites closed the scoring with a 24-yard field goal with 4:12 to play.

The final minutes provided an outbreak of trash talking by both teams. A skirmish ensued with a minute to play that saw plenty of pushing and shoving, referees pulling players out of pile, and penalty flags flying everywhere. Offsetting penalties for unsportsmanlike conduct were assessed, but there were no ejections.

Summerville committed its only turnover with a minute to play when Bryce Leveroos took his final carry of the afternoon, hurdling one defender before the ball popped loose for SHP to recover at the Bears’ 35. Pollioni followed with a 24-yard pass to Spieker to move it to the 11, but the Gators would advance no farther. Four plays later, on fourth-and-10, the game ended on an interception by Summerville sophomore Malekai Fromm.

Bryce Leveroos finished with 226 total yards, including perfect 10-of-10 passing for 122 yards and one touchdown. The junior did misfire on one pass in the second quarter, but the play did not count with Summerville penalized for an illegal block.

For the Gators, Bamdad totaled eight carries for a team-high 98 yards rushing, while Gamitian took 13 carries for 61 yards. Palmer finished with five catches for 143 yards, including his two big scoring catches in the second half.

“They never quit,” Grieb said, “and that’s kind of what we talked about at halftime, was: ‘Let’s play to the end, no matter what, and let’s not worry about the score.’ And they did. They did that. They have a lot to be proud of — in this game and in the whole year.”

Summerville now advances to the CIF Division 6-A State Football Championship Bowl. The Bears will meet Monte Vista-Spring Valley this coming Saturday, Dec. 14, at Fullerton Union High School Stadium. Kickoff is schedule for 3 p.m.