Several of the players from Riordan and Pitt gathered for a group photo after the game. Junior Tommy Tofi on the far left flashes a USC glove, which is interesting since he is listed as uncommitted. Jewelous Walls (on the far right) is committed to Washington. Photo: Mark Tennis.
Two teams chasing a higher level and clearly knowing which teams they’re going to have to likely beat to win a CIF section title met on Friday in Pittsburg. Both the host Pirates and visiting Archbishop Riordan of San Francisco displayed plenty of firepower but need a lot of improvement to meet their goals. A poor start once again doomed the Crusaders in a 56-42 loss.
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Based on the number of players returning from last season and the D1 college offers and commitments of many of those players, two of the highest ranked teams coming into this season in Northern California were Pittsburg and Archbishop Riordan of San Francisco.
Pittsburg doesn’t have to win a CIF section title to move on into the CIF NorCal and then possibly the CIF state championships. The Pirates are in the CIF North Coast Section, which has a system in which its second-best team can move on after a loss in its Open Division championship. They lost last year to De La Salle of Concord in the NCS Open final, defeated San Ramon Valley of Danville to win the NCS D1 title and then lost to Folsom in the CIF NorCal D1-A regional final. De La Salle, of course, hasn’t lost in an NCS championship since 1991.
Freshman Kenny Ward was spotted after the game waving a towel with several other teammates. Photo: Mark Tennis.
Riordan fell short in a big way in the West Catholic Athletic League last season in a 53-7 loss to Serra of San Mateo (which has been the No. 1 team in Northern California for the 2021, 2022 and 2023 seasons). But the Crusaders were third in the league before losing to eventual CIF Central Coast Section D1 champion Los Gatos. Serra won the CCS Open Division title.
Since both head coaches — Charlie Ramirez of the Pirates and Adhir Ravipati of the Crusaders — know that one of the ways to build a program toward competing for much higher levels is to play difficult opponents, it made sense that the two teams would play each other on Friday at Pittsburg. It was the third game for Pitt (ranked No. 12 in the state) after wins against Monterey Trail of Elk Grove and Bishop Manogue of Reno. Riordan (ranked No. 31) opened with a comeback win 35-34 at McClymonds of Oakland, then went to St. Bonaventure of Ventura last week and fell to the Seraphs, 42-34.
A poor start drastically hurt the Crusaders once again and there were times in the first half when thoughts of a running clock win by the Pirates in the second half could not be quashed. In this game, Riordan fell behind 28-7 by the end of the first quarter and then 35-14 in the second quarter. The Crusaders wound up falling 56-42, but had a chance to tie the score in the fourth quarter when the margin was 49-42.
“Absolutely, we wanted to make sure to play a schedule to help us later on,” said Ramirez, who will travel with his team next Friday to play at national powerhouse St. John Bosco of Bellflower. “We know the caliber of the teams we played at the end of last year. I’m thinking it was like us playing Corona Centennial in 2017. It gives us the chance to feel what it’s like to play one of the great Southern California teams so we may know what’s like later on.”
Ravipati echoed similar thoughts.
“We really want to do things to help us compete in the CCS and WCAL and we’ve still got a lot of things to clear up,” he said. “We still only have 12 seniors, so we’re still pretty young, but what I liked most about tonight was that there was no quit from anyone.”
The disastrous start for Riordan began with a muffed punt on the first possession of the game. That led to Pittsburg getting the ball at the Riordan 25-yard line and then on its second play it was Jamar Searcy racing for a 24-yard touchdown. The Crusaders then ran the ball eight times in nine plays on a drive inside the Pitt 30-yard line, but then freshman Kenny Ward stepped in front of a pass and raced for a 60-yard interception return.
Ward, who later scored on a 31-yard pass reception, is getting a lot of reps on defense as four-star DB Jadyn Hudson has not played this season due to injuries. Hudson, committed to UCLA, may be back by this week but Ramirez added he was “questionable.” Ward is one of two freshmen on the varsity and on Friday night had what could be called “a breakout” performance.
The Crusaders scored their first touchdown with just 36.5 seconds left in the first quarter on a 1-yard run by Jermaine Jones, a senior who continued to run the ball effectively most of the night behind the team’s mammoth offensive linemen duo of junior Tommy Tofi (6-7, 240) and senior Peter Langi (6-6, 370).
On the next play for Pitt after the ensuing kickoff, however, Searcy exploded through a hole and bolted for a 65-yard touchdown for the 28-7 lead. He would finish with 155 yards rushing and four touchdowns.
Ramirez called Searcy “the best touchdown maker in Northern California, if not the state.” He’s committed to Washington State, which essentially got the best touchdown maker in Northern California last year as well in running back Wayshawn Parker of Sacramento Grant.
The teams traded touchdowns in the second quarter, but later in the second quarter after a 16-yard TD pass by junior quarterback Michael Mitchell Jr. to senior Jacob Dubriwny, the Crusaders finally got a defensive stop. They didn’t have much time before halftime to score, but with just 34.3 seconds left Mitchell hit on a 15-yard TD pass on fourth down and 15 to Jones and just like that it was 35-28 at halftime.
Jeremiah Jones was a busy ball carrier all night for the Riordan offense. Photo: Mark Tennis.
The third quarter was one of the strangest one could see, especially after such a back-and-forth shootout in the first half. Pittsburg got the ball first and was pushed back to the 10-yard line after a penalty on the second half kickoff. That didn’t stop the Pirates from driving 90 yards in 16 plays, which included a 36-yard TD run by Searcy nullified by a penalty. Searcy capped the drive with a 1-yard plunge. Riordan was then pushed back to the 10-yard line by a penalty on the ensuing kickoff. And guess what the Crusaders did? They drove 90 yards and it took them 16 plays as well. An 18-yard pass from Mitchell To Cynai Thomas on 4th and 16 picked up a huge first down and then on the next play Jones ran for a 14-yard score. It was the final play of the third quarter, meaning the entirety of the quarter was those two possessions.
The Pirates extended their lead to 49-34 early in the fourth quarter on a 1-yard plunge by senior Elijah Bowe, who two years ago was the leading rusher of the team as a sophomore. Searcy has that role now, but Bowe is now used more as a linebacker on defense, gets some carries on offense and clearly remains a leader of the squad. Any team with championship aspirations has to have a player like that.
Riordan was forced more to the air in its attempt to come back and Mitchell found Thomas for a 46-yard touchdown with just five minutes left. A two-point conversion then cut the deficit to 49-42. Ravipati then went for the onside kick and it was one he says the team has practiced a lot and it worked twice in the comeback attempt vs St. Bonaventure. This time, it worked again with Frank Ennix getting the recovery.
Any momentum the Crusaders had after the touchdown, two-pointer and onside kick recovery was short-lived. Mitchell threw an ill-advised pass two plays later that Searcy picked off with 4:05 remaining. Pitt then scored again on a 25-yard run by Bowe for the game’s final margin.
Senior QB Marley Alipati didn’t have to throw much, but unofficially went 11-of-14 for 134 yards for the Pirates. He continues to be that senior leader that the team relies on.
Jones had his own breakout game or sorts for Riordan. With Pittsburg dropping mostly into coverage and using few players in the box, the young senior (Ravipati said he should be a junior by age) got a whopping 42 carries for 292 yards. He also ended with three TD runs and one TD catch.
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