Serra's troubling week ends in victory

With daily chapel services dedicated to Bottarini — whose surviving twin brother is a senior at Serra — and Darius Bell on leave from practice for the remainder of the week, the Padres forged through some dark days in readying for their Saturday matchup with Elk Grove.

“It was somber,” Serra head coach Patrick Walsh said. “It’s difficult to focus when we’re all dealing with real tragedy. On the other hand, I was proud of the guys … for battling and hanging together as brothers.”

Serra’s 41-17 victory over Elk Grove seemed to be providing necessary respite from the mournful reality. It marks the defending Division 2-AA state champion Padres’ first win of the new season. But even the game was overtaken by an ill-fated development when running back David Coker went down with a severe knee injury late in the fourth quarter, casting doubt on two-way starter’s senior season.

“It’s in doubt,” Walsh said.

In the previous week’s opener, a 41-22 loss Aug. 25 to Serra-Gardena in Mountain View, Serra lost returning all-West Catholic Athletic League linebacker E.J. Lahlouh to a left ankle sprain. The senior did not play Saturday, and is questionable for this week’s final non-league game at Pittsburg.

Lahlouh was on the sideline Saturday, walking around without crutches, though his left ankle was heavily taped. Walsh said that injury projects as a short-term one.

 “He’s so valuable to the team,” Walsh said. “And they don’t hang preseason banners in the gym. So, we’ll approach with caution.”

The loss of Coker looks to be more serious, possibly even season-ending. Making it even tougher to digest was it essentially came during garbage minutes late in the game, with the Padres already staked to a 24-point lead.

The senior took a screen pass from quarterback Luke Bottari and found running room up the left sideline, taking an 18-yard gain into the red zone. At the end of the play, however, Coker took a hit, fumbled the ball away and crashed to the turf in immediate pain. He was carried off the field and spent the remainder of the game on the medical table with his knee entirely immobilized.

“He’s our starting running back and he’s our rock,” Bottari said. “It’s a big loss. But Serra football has always been about the next man up.”

It was a varied Padres cast that wrestled a lead amid a back-and-forth first quarter. There were four lead changes through the opening 12 minutes, with the Elk Grove Thundering Herd hammering the running game with such efficiency, they possessed the ball for nearly 10 of those minutes.

“We don’t have as much firepower as Serra,” Elk Grove head coach John Heffernan said. “So the strategy was to come in and eat up as much yards and clock as possible.”

While Elk Grove’s offense managed the clock with the use of the read-option offense, the Padres didn’t get their offense involved in the scoring until after they’d already taken a 13-10 lead.

“It’s just a unique game,” Walsh said. “Those types of things happen when you face a unique offense.”

The Thundering Herd capped their first possession with a 27-yard field goal to go up 3-0. But Padres kick returner Malakai Rango answered right back, taking the ensuing kickoff 85 yards for a score to swing Serra in front 7-3. It was one of two epic returns for Rango on the day. He also opened the second half with a 96-yard touchdown return, falling just 1 yard shy of his career-best last season against St. Francis.

“He’s proven he’s an explosive returner here for Serra,” Walsh said. “And our return teams give us offensive plays.”

Elk Grove re-took the lead at 10-7, and got the ball right back. But this time, the Padres defense got involved when senior defensive end Jason Venturi produced his first career interception and returned it 49 yards to put Serra up 13-10.

It was the first of five straight Serra scores.

Bottari closed the opening quarter with a 25-yard scoring pass to junior Terence Loville for a 20-10 advantage. Then after Rango’s kickoff return to start the second half improved the lead to 27-10, senior cornerback Nate Sanchez recovered a fumble and advanced it 22 yards for a score.

Bottari closed Serra’s scoring with a career-high run of 55 yards for a touchdown. The senior quarterback gained 184 total yards, including 117 by air on 11-of-13 passing. The total now gives Bottari 4,210 career passing yards, leaving him just 56 yards shy of Serra’s all-time career passing record of 4,266 set by Leki Nunn in 2016.

Following the game, Bottari reflected on the two deaths affecting Serra High School throughout the week, and dedicated Saturday’s game to Blake Bottarini.

“We’re playing for Blake,” Bottari said. “Serra has been through a lot. We’re going to bounce back from that.”