Senior running back Marques Rodgers, who scored Serra’s first three touchdowns, sings the school song after the Cavaliers won CIF Division II state title on Saturday with victory over Oakdale.
Written by Ronnie Flores
For game reports, please go to our twitter page @CalHiSports and for other updates please visit our Facebook page.
To subscribe to our weekly e-newsletter, click here.
As the 2012 regular season wore on, evidence grew that which team emerged to represent Northern California in Division II in the CIF’s new regional bowl game format was going to have its hands full with its Southern California counterparts.
The main reason for the potential development was the move of top-ranked teams out of Division II in the north from the CIF Sac Joaquin Section and into the south from the CIF Southern Section. With quality NorCal teams such as Folsom considered Division I for purposes of the CIF bowl games and with CIF Southern Section Western Division champ Serra owning a regular season victory over Pac-Five champion Long Beach Poly, plus Southern Section Southwest Division champ Edison of Huntington Beach and San Diego Section Division II champ Oceanside fielding strong squads, the possibly of a blowout win for the south was clear.
That development became reality as SoCal representative Serra used big first-half performances from junior quarterback Jalen Greene, senior running back Marques Rodgers and junior multi-purpose threat Adorre Jackson to defeat NorCal representative Oakdale 42-15.
With its win on a cool Saturday night at The Home Depot Center, Serra upped its CIF Championship Bowl Game won-loss record to 2-1, with the first victory in 2009 over Marin Catholic of Kentfield. The Cavaliers joined Oceanside (Div. I and II) and De La Salle of Concord (Open and Div. I) as state bowl champions in multiple divisions. Serra’s previous bowl victory over Marin Catholic came in Division III.
“Absolutely, this was the best we’ve played of the three games,” said Serra head coach Scott Altenberg. “We played very inspired football from the start to the finish. The first time we didn’t play that hard and the second time we played a great team (Folsom).”
Malik Roberson is one of several “Super” underclassmen on Serra’s D2 state championship roster.
With 4:45 showing on the clock, Rodgers took a sweep to the left and raced 57 yards for a score and a 14-0 Serra lead. With 30 seconds remaining in the opening stanza, Rodgers scored his third touchdown on a 4th-and-goal from the one-yard line.
Rodgers finished the game with five carries for 96 yards rushing and three touchdowns for Serra, ranked No. 5 in the CalHiSports.com State Top 25 and guaranteed to finish in the top five in next week’s final ratings.
After Rodgers did his early damage against Oakdale (14-2), which came into the game ranked No. 25 overall in the state, it was Jackson’s turn.
The 5-foot-10, 175-pound junior, who figures to be one of the West Coast’s top recruits next season, put Serra up 28-0 when he hauled in a pass from Greene for a 50-yard score after the Mustangs turned the ball over on downs. Jackson, last year’s CIF state long jump champion, then erased any doubts as to the outcome of this game when he took a short swing pass around the 25-yard line, made at least three Oakdale defenders whiff at tackles near the 10-yard line and catapulted from the five-yard line onto the back of another Oakdale player and nearly landed on his feet in the end zone.
Jackson’s second touchdown made the score 35-0 at halftime. With 9:07 remaining in the third quarter, Jackson scored his third touchdown of the game when he took off running on a fake punt and burst up the sideline on a 78-yard high-stepping scamper to make it 42-0 in favor of the Cavs.
“We just wanted to hang onto the ball in this game and score,” Altenberg said. “They have such a great group of kids who play hard and can hold onto the ball. We didn’t want them to get any momentum.”
Greene finished the game accounting for 246 yards. He completed seven of 13 pass attempts for 141 yards and two touchdowns. He added 105 yards rushing on nine carries. The explosive Jackson caught three passes for 82 yards and the two scores in addition to his rushing yardage on the punt fake touchdown.
Serra out gained Oakdale in total yardage 520-339. Oakdale had five yards passing at halftime and quarterback Spencer Thomas finished with 69 yards in the air.
Oakdale, the Sac Joaquin Division III Section champs, prevented the game from going to a fourth quarter running clock when running back Nikk Ryan (20 carries, 71 yards) scored from four yards out off left tackle with 33 seconds left in the third quarter. Thomas then scored on a two-point conversion attempt.
Oakdale never showed any quit, even getting on the scoreboard one more time with 5:48 remaining in the game on a one-yard lug up the gut by Marcus Northcutt (28 carries, 158 yards), but it didn’t change the reality of this game.
A reality that was beginning to take shape long before the game’s opening kickoff.
Offensive Player of the Game: Jalen Greene 6-3, 200 Jr.
The junior signal-caller stepped up his game in the postseason to lead Serra to its second state title in four years. Greene cut down on his turnovers down the stretch and threw two touchdowns passes against zero interceptions against Oakdale. He also was only sacked once and did not fumble while rushing nine times for 105 yards. He was the Cavs’ leading rusher in this game.
Defensive Player of the Game: Blake Walls (Serra, Gardena) 5-8, 190 Fr.
The ninth-grader is a name to watch for in the future as the Cavaliers will be major CIF Bowl Game contenders at least for the next two seasons. Walls had an interception with 9:07 remaining in the third period to set up Adorre Jackson’s sensational 78-yard fake punt run touchdown. He also came up with an interception in the red zone to kill Oakdale’s last chance to score near the end of the game.
Special Teams Player of the Game: Adorre Jackson (Serra, Gardena) 5-10, 177 Jr.
There were no field goals in this game, so it only makes sense to give this award to Jackson. In addition to his two receiving touchdowns, he also had a 78-yard punt fake run touchdown to basically seal the victory for Serra. He also actually punted, booting one 42 yards.
Underclass Player of the Game: John Houston (Serra, Gardena) 6-3, 215 Soph.
Here’s yet another underclass player who made an impact for Scott Altenberg’s program, Houston racked up 14 solo tackles against Oakdale’s run-oriented offense. The talented linebacker also assisted on three others and had a pass breakup. He’s just another reason why the Cavaliers will begin high in next season’s preseason state rankings.
Comments or corrections? Email markjtennis@gmail.com.
70 Comments
Ur still a heck of a good team Oakdale;Serrano is just straight fast!!!
SERRA
Where the oceanside fans now?
Oceanside is still coming out your mouth. You must really love us. There is plenty of room on this O’side bus for you and the homies. cif ss crybaby, in case you haven’t noticed you’re an Oceanside fan. Thanks for always keeping us on your mind. Go Pirates!!
Serra fields a very athletic team, however, the fake punt in the second half when leading 35-0 was somewhat classless.
I agree.
Where still here, meaning oside what you proved nothing in that game Oakdale is a well coached team but slow compared to southern California teams, congrats on win but really it proved nothing oceanside is still down here dominating the area, while serra has to get kids from all over to do so but we won’t touch that subject,lol congrats serra on win.
What I determined yesterday was Delasalle is a great team, and Serra was a fast team, but sloppy and average football team. Oakdale put alot of yards against Serra’s defense. Serra was tackling them after they got 6-7 yards a carry. Not sure if it was poor coaching, or poor thinking on players ? Serra proved they were a faster and more athletic team, but football wise, the routes and passes were sloppy, the defensive scheme was bad (Oakdale stopped themselves).Speed against a slow smaller team equals the equation to their victory.
Serra completely manhandled Oakdale amassing more rushing yards and rushing TD’s in their first 8 carries (175) against Oakdale than Oceanside did in an entire game. It wasnt even close. Serras 3rd string RB who has been out with a twice broken ankle for most of the last 2 years and was told by doctors he would not play again this year was as productive as Cotrell was against Oakdale with 6 carries for 35 yards.
Oceanside needs to show a little respect to a great Serra team.
Instead of rushing yards we had 200 yds of passing yards. Its all relative. Both were equally impressive. Tell your HC to set up game with Oceanside both are returning a plethora of talent!
It was a way for serra to show who they really are, recruiters and classless need more to say congrats on win but wow that was bad to say the least
Oceanside cant beat a team like Chaminade. it would be a great game but Chaminade would win IMO.
Croson at Chaminade will schedule and play anybody , he likes nothing more than to play quality teams with quality coaching, Oside should give him a call if they want to play one of the top teams in the state in their division that isnt too far away. Chaminade has been playing Pac5 teams for years and knows what top level competition is, Oceanside would give them a good game and have a chance to boost their ranking.
Already did he said, “no.”
You guys have been coming on this board blasting Serra ever since it appeared they would be selected for the regional bowl. No one from Serra has come on here saying anything about Oceanside. I get it, it sucks you did not get selected for the game. I do believe it would have been a better game than Edision, not taking anything away from them. You know nothing about Serra. All you keep saying is they have horrible coaching, bad plays and gameplan, they recruit, they’re sloppy and average, etc. If any of those things were true, Serra would not keep winning as they do. Every team makes mistakes, Show me a game where mistakes aren’t made. Mistales arw made in college an the NFL. As far as recruting goes, when you have a successful program, kids want to be a partt of that. There is no need to recruit. They show up.
Also, I have seen film on Oceanside, I understand you supporting your own team and having faith and confidence in them, however, everything yousay about Serra, I could say about Oceanside.
So quit hating and being jealous. If you want to be upset, be upset at the CIF.
LOL! Serra BOUGHT their state bowl championship! FACT. Nice how they left 90% of their STARTERS in the ENTIRE GAME! lol! O’side didn’t have ANY starters after the second series of the third qrt when they rolled Oakdale and O’sidedidn’t need to run up the score on Oakdale or anyone else to illustrate who the best DII team in the state was. ASK OAKDALE WHO THE BEST TEAM THEY PLAYED ALL SEASON WAS! Like the Serra hack who lied and made the claim that Serra “had the most Di players sent to college than any program in Cali” and who got CALLED OUT AND PROVED TO BE WRONG! Serra has 17 O’side has 21 over the 5 year span. Serra OL/DL are HORRIBLE. They are noting but an inner city private school team who recruits a bunch of skinney lil kids from other neighborhoods to come and run “sweep right”…”sweep left”. Their qb throws footballs like a bad youth qb, their defense tackles like a “special ed” class and, again, they have NO quality OL/DL kids. The giant Samoan kid is MAYBE going to go to a DII school according to the commentators during the game. The bottom line is: Cali is the laughing stock of HS football. Its the ONLY state to NOT have an actual “playoff” system like every other state and instead employes a “selection committee” to pick who they feel should play in a bowl championship event. PATHETIC. End all the B.S. bantering and have a REAL PLAYOFF system. No more 2-8, 3-7 teams paying in the football playoffs! WHAT A JOKE!
To the person that said Serra BOUGHT their state bowl championship! FACT. 1. Its a state game so you play ur starters/seniors. If Oakdale did not put their best on the field , that was dumb on them. Fact 2. Serra HS. is a great school no one goes there for free., Everyone pays. Serra does not recruit, if you are a great school the kids will come. I never see any comment about the ” white schools recruiting” its a known fact that ,Oaks christian,Mater dei, Chaminade, Almenay all recruit, they scout the pop warner teams for in coming 9th graders, and pay their tuition. Serra is a small school and does not have the money to do that, so if you play for serra YOU ARE PAYING TUITION!!,
For the person who said Serra took all of the players from Gardena HS, you r wrong. The kids chose Serra, you want your kid to go a school that is safe. Why is it when a school like Serra wins the comments are always negative. You are just mad the kids chose serra and not your school.
To the person that said all of serra players will go DII or III. you are just silly, Its a given fact every year Serra Has 5-7 players go DI. The purpose for these kids to play football is to get a Scholarship for college. It does not matter if its DI<DII<DII as long as you go to college. All this Hate because you lost a football game
A quick note: For you to talk about these kids @serra or any other school is just dumb. These are kids that love to play football. Talking about them calling them "bunch of skinney lil kids from other neighborhoods"/ Their qb throws footballs like a bad youth qb, their defense tackles like a “special ed” class . its ok, but these are the same kids you tried to recruit for you team.
Serra will keep on playing winning and sending kids to college. What are you doing??
Due to relative playing for El Camino (Oceanside), I saw Gardena hs (the public school) play El Camino 2 years in a row (10,11). They had about 20 kids on the varsity, and I asked a parent on the way out about this, and he said, Serra pays our best players to go there( i.e academic scholarships). I can’t blame the families for going there, but essentially they recruit on a high level. Serra is a business that uses these kids; however, Oceanside a public school whp would man handle that team, no doubt, and without the private school corruption.
Gardenas Roster This Year had “32” players…just check maxpreps
keep saying lies
I stated 2010 and 2011 season smart man for Gardena. They had no jv team either. You need to read more carefully. Thank Serra for destroying Gardena’s football program. Thank the CIF for not letting Serra play Oceanside. Thank your poor energy levels and reading comprehension skills before going grocery union angry.
Gardena hs had 22 or so kids on varistiy due to Serra gutting their program like the ” baby boomers ” has to social security. Serra needs to step up and play a public school with passion,tradition, and skill in Oceanside.
isnt battle of the vets a north vs south thing?
Battle of the Veterans called Chaminade to play Oceanside. Not sure what is going on at this point.
Pure idiots you are. Serra is a business and has bills and salaries to pay. So you are misinformed about free rides. Everyone pays at Serra. Gardena is an LAUSD school, with the exception of Narbonne & Carson, they all have small rosters. I was not proved wrong about the college scholarships awarded to Serra players.
I have a quote for you… Maybe you should learn from it. “Better to Remain Silent and Be Thought a Fool than to Speak and Remove All Doubt.”
Call Serra and schedule a game. They’ll play you.
It’s just silly to think that Serra or any private school that is as successful as them year in and year out are not recruiting kids ot come play there. They all do it. Regardless of whether the kids are given a scholarship or “sponsored” these kids are recruited to play at schools like these. All of them claim they are legit, and that good players just want to play there, but it is very ignorant to think that the schools aren’t paying the way for many of the players who couldn’t otherwise pay the tuition on their own. There should be a different playoff system for all public schools and all private schools.
A copious of hostility and odium towards OCEANSIDE, I wonder why…??
No I don’t, it’s just a bunch of fools that wish their program was as solid and consistent as O’side, a program they wish to emulate. Being from SD County and successful is what burns at their soul.
“How can this small public school out of nowhere accomplish all that they have, how,how,how??” said the haters.
Here’s a quote for you to ponder.
“Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.”
I wouldn’t call a school with 2,200 students exactly “small.” Maybe compared to Long Beach Poly but it’s not small. Other than great coaching, I’ve always thought Oceanside has benefitted from being a military town (much like Cordova of Rancho Cordova in the 1970s). Sons of military dads can be tough.
Touché
Then why doesn’t El Camino benefit?? Why doesn’t Mira Mesa??? No I see why you dropped Oceanside 3 spots for no reason.
Just to be clear, there are NOT 2,200 kids on the Oceanside campus. More like 1,900. Check on that.
We did check. It’s on the San Diego Section web site. CBED enrollment for Oceanside is above 2,200.
Bottom line is all these teams need to start playing and that’s that, oside is a program like the others but none recognize them like they do all the others, oside odds like notre dame they hate the best
I am a son of a former USMC marine, and a high percentage of the players have military ties and are very tough kids. Most of their players could not afford to go to a private school, unless it was paid for.
You guys are proablly all 40 years old. Coming from someone who played for oside yeah it sucks we didnt go to state but we realized that there was a tough choice between 3 amazing teams and whos to say what exactly. we may beat serra and edison but then if we played a week later they may have beat us. Thats how talented all 3 teams are and you guys are talking bad about hs kids who respect each other.
the most mature man in all of Oceanside is a High School kid.thanks for your post.
uh….yes i have ….but yeah feel free to show me where i have belittled or talked bad about anybodys team.I have constantly praised Oceanside and have only commented on the childish behavior of thier fans on this site….which without doubt is the truth.instead of standing on the accomplisments of your team most of you have some sort of napoleon complex about not being choosen.I have tried to remind all of you that people who follow HS football have nothing but respect for Oceanside but you guys just cant get over it.All the SBG are over and your still here whinning…why? why? im embarrased for you guys acting like babies when a high school kid comes on this site with the maturity you all seem to lack.
Bc you have been so mature right?….
You’re probably a 40yr old yourself, so stop faking the funk old man.
i dont know too many 40 year olds who played football for oside .
1.) what the heck is “faking the funk”
2.)Coach Gerardi would always give a speech before the games in the locker room saying go out there and play every play as hard as you can because you never know when it will be your last then going on sayig people pay to see us play. the point being that there jealous of us.
I guess his point was proven that your a grumpy old man who is jealous.
I was out there working every day not you and im perfectly fine with not being picked for state and i played for the team not you so grow up.
It’s funny you mentioned that because coach Campbell would tell us the exact same thing. Don’t be upset old man.
@CIFSOUTHERNSECTION
You are aware that Oceanside beat Oakdale in the exact same fashion right? Except that Oakdale never even came close to scoring until the last 3 minutes of the game against a mass subbed defense… Oakdale drove on Serra a couple of times, nearly scored in the first half and did score on Serra’s starting D in the 3rd…. Serra 35-0 at half… Oside 34-0 at half… Only difference was that Oceanside was much better on defense…. A Serra v. Oside game would have been great to see… Too bad the CIF got it wrong in sending Edison… Thanks CalHi…
the difference is that you guys beat OAKDALE in preseason
Serra Beat them in the state Championship game WHERE IT COUNTS
PS:Chaparral
I think you mean pre-league… Good for Serra… they are now tied with Oside in SBG wins… They were pretty fortunate to have avoided Oside this year…
PS: 2 losses
All you Oside guys are pathetic.
Oceanside is one of the best teams that we need to be like. Sorry for the disrespect, I meant no harm.
posting under different names is pathetic…
I like how Chaminade is talking trash with 7 different names. I like how Chaminade beat his chest and dragged his knuckles as he critized Oceanside,Lompoc and bragged about how his team was going to win it all. I liked how they lost their section.
Bottom line… At the end of the day Serra has the state title. Enough said.
And Chaminade has no titles…. stop talking…
The solution to private schools is easy for me. If a school dominates (Private school) annually, and is even thought to recruit (an example would be Rey Vega with Central Catholic) put a one in front of their enrollment. Therefore a school like Central Catholic which was around 400 would be 1400. That being said all other schools should compete by enrollment period. no scales or adjustments. Any school (Public) that dominates can be voted up by the league.
One Of Calif Top DB/RB/KR 2014
Check him out Mark, he needs to be on your radar if he isnt already.
CB/RB/KR Donovan Lee Chaminade College Prep Junior Highlights Class of 2014
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9kF2Zvr86k
76 carr 655 yds 12 TD’s
22 Rec 300yds 2 TD
Tackles 42 solo 10 assist
6 INT 125 yds
2 Fum Rec 75 yds 1 TD
4 Kickoff return TD’s
1 punt Ret TD
As an O’side supporter and former coach, I applaud Serra. My gripe was never against Serra but against the selectors and selection process. The only reason I hoped Oakdale would win was to boost Oceanside up but it was obvious to me who would win that game. This will never go away and some team will feel cheated each and every year. What I would hope is that we can support our teams w/out being haters. Like my San Diego Chargers…I can’t stand people who hate on my Chargers, even though they stink. Although I was bummed that OHS didn’t go, I truly am glad Serra from the Southern Section beat the boys from Nor Cal. Forever faithful to OHS w/out smack talking other teams. Hopefully we continue to dominate the San Diego section and get a shot next year.
To the person that said Serra BOUGHT their state bowl championship! FACT. 1. Its a state game so you play ur starters/seniors. If Oakdale did not put their best on the field , that was dumb on them. Fact 2. Serra HS. is a great school no one goes there for free., Everyone pays. Serra does not recruit, if you are a great school the kids will come. I never see any comment about the ” white schools recruiting” its a known fact that ,Oaks christian,Mater dei, Chaminade, Almenay all recruit, they scout the pop warner teams for in coming 9th graders, and pay their tuition. Serra is a small school and does not have the money to do that, so if you play for serra YOU ARE PAYING TUITION!!,
For the person who said Serra took all of the players from Gardena HS, you r wrong. The kids chose Serra, you want your kid to go a school that is safe. Why is it when a school like Serra wins the comments are always negative. You are just mad the kids chose serra and not your school.
To the person that said all of serra players will go DII or III. you are just silly, Its a given fact every year Serra Has 5-7 players go DI. The purpose for these kids to play football is to get a Scholarship for college. It does not matter if its DI<DII<DII as long as you go to college. All this Hate because you lost a football game
A quick note: For you to talk about these kids @serra or any other school is just dumb. These are kids that love to play football. Talking about them calling them "bunch of skinney lil kids from other neighborhoods"/ Their qb throws footballs like a bad youth qb, their defense tackles like a “special ed” class . its ok, but these are the same kids you tried to recruit for you team.
Serra will keep on playing winning and sending kids to college. What are you doing??
It’s funny to me that Serra wins state and all they can talk about is Oceanside. The old saying is “you got to beat the best to be the best”, since you guys can’t keep Oceanside out of your mouths, guess you realize you didn’t (and can’t) beat the best.
The Oceanside kids/players are classy kids who do not talk on the field. You have a few passionate renegade Pirate fans expressing their thoughts. Football is an angry, violent, and passionate sport, do not be so oversensitive. I do not believe they go to Serra instead of Gardena due to safeness.
Serra is loaded with Athletes. I’m sure there is a economic discount/waiver…DLS has the same thing so they can say they do not give athletic tuition. Just like non scholarship D1 schools do not give athletic scholarships, but labeled and called academic scholarships and what not…Serra is academically a good school, just like Oaks, MD, Servite, Chaminade and Alemany. Nobody blaims parents for sending their kids to these schools. I think it comes down to the fake punt during the game that was uncalled for and the HC’s comments of not getting mad when he scored. HC also said that he did not call the fake punt so his star player is doing what he wants…thats where the “classless” come into play.
You are right about the fake punt. That was not nice and should not have been done. I do hoped the head coach did address that error on his part.
Gardena hs has 3000 students and about 22 players suited up against El Camino (2011,2010 seasons). They did not have a JV team in 2011 ? How can a school of 3000 students have such a small number of football players. Serra dips their hands and wallets (assistance, academic scholarships) in this talent pull. Sad state of affairs.
Almost every LAUSD public school plays terrible football compared to the teams we are talking about. None of it has to do with the private schools in their area.
All I know is that Serra and Chaminade were argueably the two best teams in this division and will be back stronger next year. Check out another Nade returner JoJo Mcintosh, nice kid but very nasty to his opponents.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hViPpGOREWc
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hViPpGOREWc&w=560&h=315%5D
We’re the BEST team to not win a section title. DSL is lucky not to have us on their schedule. You better respect us.
What about BEST team to NEVER win a section title?
I forgot my meds and badmouthed all these other schools to make myself feel better.
I feel like such an idiot, Im so sorry.
NOBODY MATCHES UP TO US (chaiminade and serra) NOBODY!!
We have so many titles put together it’s unfathomable. We dominate this section hands down. serra brings our total state titles to two (2 out of 3).
Our rb’s are lighting speed, qb’s on target like Tom Brady, and a defense like DLS.
Respect us you peasants.
We own Cali football on all levels!!
The best football is played in ss section!!
DLS may win the open division every year, but that’s only because they refuse to play the ss section.
That goes for Texas, Florida, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Hawai’i football as well. Yes I said Hawai’i.
DLS actually tries to schedule CIFSS teams all the time, including right now for next year. It’s just not as easy as you think to set up a home-and-home series.
And if you think Hawaii is better or Ohio and Pennsylvania than California, you’re completely nuts. They have playoffs in those states, but California teams have superior coaching and speed and everything. Texas and Florida do tend to be better and this year Georgia was perhaps even better than Florida.
Nobody matches up…. except the teams that beat you right?
I am a peasant. May I have bread siar ? My name is Oliver…. Please siar……..
Beast!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXTvXMitFE8
Congrats to a deserving Serra team, all the rest can take pride in the way they played this season and rising to the occasion against some of the best teams in the state.
Time to move on to next year.