Stage set for West Catholic Athletic League classic when St. Francis visits Serra Saturday

Much is riding on Azzopardi and the Serra offensive line since senior slot receiver Hassan Mahasin was lost for the season to a knee injury in early October. Azzopardi, an imposing 6-6, 308-pound right tackle, is the second Padres offensive lineman to commit to a Division I program this season. Last month, 6-5, 297-pound senior left tackle Nathan Elu committed to Oregon State.

“The twin towers, as I call them,” Serra offensive coordinator Darius Bell said.

With Mahasin committing to San Diego State earlier this year, Azzopardi said he’s looking forward to following in his teammate’s footsteps.

“Obviously a big factor is Hassan committed there,” Azzopardi said. “I get to go block for that guy for four more years.”

Since Mahasin’s injury, Serra has relied on senior running back Petelo Gi to balance the attack with quarterback Dom Lampkin continuing to prove one of the best dual-threat quarterbacks in the Bay Area.

This has put a more demanding workload on the Serra front line, but Azzoaprdi, Elu and junior guard Ryan Silver have responded brilliantly.

“The guys up front have to step up,” Elu said. “Not that [Petelo Gi] isn’t a good ball runner, but it’s one less ball runner.”

Elu missed last week’s 36-7 win over Sacred Heart Cathedral due to a mild concussion. He was cleared to play Thursday and said he expects to return to the lineup Saturday. Taking Elu’s place at SHC was senior Joey Iosia, who has anchored the guard position all season and made his first career start at the tackle position.

Azzopardi has started every game this season after rejoining the Serra football program last year as a junior. As a sophomore, he did not play football at all, instead choosing to focus on baseball. He was 6-3 at the time and still hadn’t grown into the body currently dominating the WCAL gridiron.

“I felt like I had a better future, so I wanted to play baseball,” Azzopardi said. “But then I kept getting bigger and bigger.”

Serra head coach Patrick Walsh said it isn’t uncommon for high school linemen to hit stride late in the their varsity careers. Walsh pointed to Green Bay Packers lineman David Bakhtiari, a Serra graduate, who did not crack the varsity starting lineup until his senior year.

“Bigger people, linemen, sometimes it takes a long time to get to their brain-feet coordination,” Walsh said. “Then their brain connects to the feet and them you have Division I athletes.”

The Padres are now readying to take on a hungry St. Francis team fronted by a strong offensive line in its own right. Senior running back Viliami Teu has been the leading rusher in the Central Coast Section, according to MaxPreps.com, with 1,398 yards through eight games.

And, of course, the biggest feather in the Lancers’ cap came Sept. 10 when they defeated De La Salle-Concord, the first time a team from Northern California has defeated the mighty Spartans since 1991.

Walsh was in attendance to watch his alma mater De La Salle fall to St. Francis in a 31-28 stunner.

“There was part of me that was happy for St. Francis as well,” Walsh said. “It was good for our league. … But if you’re asking me who I was rooting for, it’s hard to go against your alma mater.”

The outcome of Saturday’s game will have big implications come the CCS playoffs. Both Serra and St. Francis have punched their tickets to the CCS Division I tournament. The WCAL champion will no doubt earn the No. 1 seed and home-field advantage throughout the CCS playoffs.

However, because each Serra and St. Francis did not play their originally scheduled season openers this year, both are missing crucial power points. This means the loser of Saturday’s game will likely not get seeded No. 2 in the tournament.

All the more riding on the already coveted WCAL championship.

“Clearly, it’s for the WCAL championship,” Walsh said. “And that’s all you need.”