The Brotherhood collides in battle for Bay 6 title

There’s one main difference now. The two play for rival programs, a rivalry that will be on display Saturday when Loville’s College of San Mateo Bulldogs host Mahasin’s City College of San Francisco Rams on the Hilltop at 1 p.m.

“It’s all good,” Loville said. “I’ve played with him before. I can play against him.”

Both players’ transfer stories like one and the same, spending one year at their respective Division I schools, only to bounce back to hometown community colleges.

For Mahasin, the transfer from San Diego State was particularly turbulent. He never played for the Aztecs, spending most of his time in San Diego returning from a knee injury that ended his senior season at Serra. He did return to action on the practice field, and battled through ups and downs, with recurring bouts of tendonitis.

“I had to learn how to be patient and work on it every single day,” Mahasin said. “It was a mental battle.”

When he was playing, it was a strange fit. Having played mostly as a running back/slot receiver at Serra, the 5-10 Mahasin was looked to as a wide out for the Aztecs. After taking a redshirt in 2022, however, the bad news he’d later call a “blessing in disguise” was delivered that his athletic scholarship would not be renewed for 2023.

Mahasin immediately entered the transfer portal.

“My whole life, I just felt like a failure,” Mahasin said. “That showed me the business side of college football so fast.”

Loville graduated from Serra after the 2019 season, and spent three years at San Jose State. He took a redshirt in 2020, and appeared in five games over two seasons, but because of the pandemic was only held to one season of athletic eligibility.

When San Jose State assistant Eric Scott left University of Nevada and was named the Spartans’ new wide receivers coach in 2021, however, two receivers — Charles Ross and Justin Lockhart — both transferred from Nevada to San Jose State. Loville suddenly found himself sliding down the depth chart, and opted to enter the transfer portal.

CSM was a perfect fit for the San Mateo native, who grew up within walking distance of Serra. It doesn’t hurt that he is one of nine Serra graduates currently on the Bulldogs’ roster.

“I settled in pretty well just knowing a lot of people over there already,” Loville said. “And definitely just being from San Mateo, it definitely just made it a lot easier.”

Loville currently ranks second with 539 receiving yards for CSM, averaging a team-best 22.5 yards per catch. He missed two games after departing the Bulldogs’ Week 3 win at Modesto — the biggest game of his collegiate career to date, with seven catches for 166 yards. In his first three weeks back, he totaled 123 cumulative yards in wins against Laney, Diablo Valley and Chabot.

In last week’s 62-7 win over San Joaquin Delta, Loville again went large with four catches for 134 yards and two touchdowns.

Mahasin, enjoying a healthy season and playing in all nine of City College’s games this season, has shown what a talent he is when allowed to do what he does best. The freshman has returned to the slot receiver position for the Rams, and has totaled nearly the same yards as has Loville, with Mahasin totaling 528 receiving on 48 receptions.

“My knee hasn’t hurt since (transferring),” Mahasin said.

City College was a perfect fit for Mahasin. He did work out at CSM, and considered transferring there — and even joked that had his former Serra quarterback Dom Lampkin, now a defensive back at CSM, was the team’s quarterback, he would have chosen the Bulldogs — but his growing up in Daly City, along with his father Jihad having played at City College in the 1990s, ultimately had more pull.

The Rams’ No. 1 offense in Northern California also makes sense for Mahasin also was a big draw.

“That was probably the biggest thing is they do the same exact thing as Serra,” Mahasin said. “I didn’t have to adjust to nothing. ... It came second nature to me when I got here.”

Both CSM and City enter Saturday with identical records in Bay 6 Conference play. The winner will earn the Bay 6 title, and an automatic bid to the postseason. With three conferences in Northern California and four playoff bids, only one at-large bid will be up from grabs. City is 9-0 overall, while CSM has one loss at 8-1.

“It’s for the league championship ... so we’re just trying to finish out the season undefeated,” Mahasin said. “So, we’re just trying to accomplish that.”