It’s trophy time for the Lincoln of San Diego football team after CIF D1-AA state title game victory on Friday vs Pittsburg. Photo: Mark Tennis.
San Diego Lincoln makes it two CIF D1-AA state titles in three seasons with 28-26 victory over Pittsburg. We also have what we saw in the CIF D2-AA state championship win by Grant of Sacramento over Pacifica of Oxnard. Others winners were Frontier of Bakersfield and St. Vincent de Paul of Petaluma at Long Beach City College and Moreau Catholic and Carmel at Fullerton UHSD Stadium. Carmel also capped unbeaten season.
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(Thanks to Orange County correspondent Chuck Nan for the writeup on Grant-Pacifica and to associate editor Harold Abend for the recaps on the two games played at Veterans Stadium.)
It wasn’t a touchdown catch by a player laying on the ground in the end zone or a wayward punt bouncing off a helmet of the other team that pushed the Lincoln High of San Diego football team to its 28-26 win over Pittsburg on Friday night at Saddleback College that decided the CIF D1-AA state title.
That was last week in the win vs Newbury Park that advanced the Hornets to this week’s game. No, in this one, it was good ‘ol hard-nosed smash mouth football and a huge defensive play that carried Lincoln to the promised land.
Leading just 21-20 in the fourth quarter, the Hornets really put the screws on the Pirates by marching down the field for an 80-yard drive in 12 plays. They reached the end zone on a 7-yard run by QB Akili Smith Jr. and didn’t attempt one pass on the series. There was only 3:44 left on the clock and after the PAT was good that meant that Pittsburg was going to have to score and then get a two-point conversion to tie the score at 28-28.
Lincoln head coach David Dunn and star QB Akili Smith Jr. look toward their fans during post-game TV interview. Photo: Mark Tennis / Cal-Hi Sports.
Pittsburg still had two timeouts, but went for an onside kick that Lincoln’s Dameian Watkins Jr. recovered. The Pirates could only do one desperation play when they did get the ball back with 16 seconds left and Alcantara was sacked.
“We wanted to control time on the clock and pick up yards,” said Lincoln head coach David Dunn. “We watched a lot of film (not just De La Salle) and our coaches on both sides came up with a great game plan. We understood what we needed to do. We had to take time off the clack and get yards. I tip my hat to Pittsburg. They played a great game and had really good fight throughout.”
While Lincoln rushed for 272 yards on the night with Donald Reed (21 attempts for 126 yards) and Junior Curtis (28 carries for 121 yards) taking turns churning out big runs, Smith Jr.’s 7-yard TD was the only one for a score. Akili, the Oregon commit, had TD passes to Courtney Miller-Thompson, Isaiah Grant and Ty Olsen. His 77-yard TD to Grant came on a swing pass in which he made the Pitt defender miss the tackle and raced down the sidelines. That play in the third quarter also broke a 14-14 tie.
“It feels great to a part of this group because I had transferred in (from Vista Murrieta) and they had won it the year before,” said Smith Jr. “We thought about this all year. Just blessed to be able to win with these guys. We were resilient all season and everyone on the team stayed the course.”
Lincoln came into the game at No. 9 in the Cal-Hi Sports State TOP 50 behind Pitt at No. 7 and Folsom at No. 8 (the team the Pirates edged last week in the NorCal final). The Hornets (12-2) will finish at No. 7 and will stay in front of the JSerra of San Juan Capistrano team they lost to early in the season. Their win over Newbury Park overcomes that loss since the Panthers were 14-0. They earlier won the CIF San Diego Section Open Division title with a win vs Cathedral Catholic of San Diego. Pittsburg will have to be satisfied with a 11-3 record that includes a loss to No. 2 St. John Bosco, a loss to No. 4 De La Salle of Concord in the CIF North Coast Section Open Division final, a win vs San Ramon Valley in the NCS D1 final, a win vs Folsom and now a loss to Lincoln.
“We didn’t execute the fundamentals enough,” said Pittsburg head coach Charlie Ramirez. “There’s not a lot of room for error in a game like this. We were right there, right on the cusp of winning it. Just a matter of one play here and there. I don’t want to hear that we can’t win the big one. We are an elite team losing to other elite teams. That’s what we are. No Bay Area public school team is playing at this level and we’ve been at this level since 2017.”
Searcy was playing at another level for the Pirates all night long. The Washington State signee scored all four TDs for his team, including a 47-yarder that tied the score at 7-7 in the second quarter. Searcy also had 23 carries for 198 yards, caught five passes for 67 yards and made a few plays on defense. Alcantara suffered his first interception of the season and had to try to get the ball to receivers in very tight coverage. He could only go 15 of 26 for 149 yards. He had 381 yards and 227 yards in his previous two outings.
Pittsburg’s Jamar Searcy lunges toward the goal line during team’s CIF D1-AA state title game vs Lincoln of San Diego. Jamar had four TDs in the game. Photo: Scott Kurtz / Cal-Hi Sports.
Lincoln’s resiliency was on display all season as the team had to get on a bus for every game and make plans for every practice since its home field was unavailable due to construction and renovations. The Hornets also had to win in this game and run the ball even though leading rusher Aden Jackson was unavailable with an injury.
“I hated it that he was going to miss his last game,” Dunn said of Jackson. “But we felt his spirit and his energy. He was helping everyone. That’s how everyone was on this team this season.”
Who knows if Lincoln could have gotten past Granite Hills of El Cajon in an overtime game in the 2023 SD Section Open Division if this would have been the program’s third straight D1-AA state title. The streak began in 2022 with a win against De La Salle of Concord and this win vs Pitt makes it two titles in three years.
In the other game played at Saddleback College:
DIVISION 2-AA
Grant (Sacramento) 35, Pacifica (Oxnard) 28
The Pacers captured their second CIF state title in three years and won a state crown in the same division in which they lost in the state final a year ago. They got out to a 28-7 halftime lead, but needed a touchdown with 22 seconds left to pull out the win after the Tritons had tied the score in the fourth quarter.
Koby Shabazz from Grant of Sacramento celebrates after catching TD pass with 22 seconds left in the game that gave Pacers win in CIF state title game. Photo: Scott Kurtz / Cal-Hi Sports.
Pacifica (Oxnard) was blessed with basically no travel on the road this postseason until Friday’s game at Saddleback College in Mission Viejo. Prior to, the odometer had notched just nine miles. Their opponents, Grant, travelled 445 miles from Sacramento. Coupled with their journey to Mountain View last week (vs. Saint Francis) the Pacers will have logged nearly 1,200 miles roundtrip.
The first drive of this game for the Tritons was not stressful at all as they demonstrated excellence with their expedited no-huddle offense. Pacifica’s 72-yard scoring drive in 11 plays ticked 2:15 off the clock and the race started. It was the first of four touchdowns on the night by sophomore Alijah Royster.
Grant must have felt it would be gassed by the second half if this “pace” continued. The Pacers’ approach was much more conventional and methodical.
The first drive netted nothing, but on its second, Grant showed that it had gained poise and confidence as quarterback Luke Alexander led his club on an 80-yard drive that utilized the bevy of young talent in the Pacers’ stable. One of those, sophomore Deangelo Knight, tallied 54 yards on consecutive receptions to put his team deep into the red zone. Alexander was able to connect with a wide open Branden Lambert from nine yards out to tie the contest 7-7.
Late in the first quarter, Grant held and then took possession at its own 40-yard line. Zo Edwards and Koby “Cheese” Shabazz snagged key pass receptions to move the ball into Triton territory. The 60-yard drive culminated with Edwards catching a 26-yard pass from Alexander for the score and a 14-7 lead.
Looking to respond, Pacifica had the ball at its 30-yard line when quarterback Dominic Duran threw an ill advised pass down the left side of the field. Pacer defensive back Gary Tia jumped the route and took the interception unabated 35 yards for a score and a sudden 21-7 lead.
After a nice drive to start the game, Pacifica had difficulty to find some offensive momentum as its drives stalled and the no-huddle approach wasn’t impacting Grant’s ability to defend.
With just over six minutes to go in the half, the Pacers took the ball and marched downfield as Alexander carved up the defense — at one point completing eight consecutive passes. Changing things up, Grant rushed the last two plays of the scoring drive with Lambert cruising in for the six-yard touchdown.
The Pacers closed the half with a sack of Duran when a swarm of lineman converged on him and went to the locker room up 28-7.
One of the old cliches from the famous novel by the same name is “A Tale of Two Cities.” Well, for Pacifica, it was the tale of two halves as the Tritons were rejuvenated and held Grant on the first possession — a huge stop on fourth-down.
San Diego State-bound edge rusher Jeremiah Tuiileila had nine tackles and three sacks for Grant in its CIF state title win vs Pacifica. Photo: Scott Kurtz.
The Tritons commenced their comeback with a a drive kept alive by two big plays that included a 24-yard reception by Savion Taylor and a 13-yard rush by Isaiah Phelps. Duran passed six yards to Royster to make the score 28-14.
Throwing the dice, head coach Mike Moon and company were successful on an onside kick for Pacifica and recovered at midfield. The Tritons couldn’t convert and were forced to turnover on downs. But their defense came through and would force Grant to punt.
With momentum now on its side, Pacifica systematically used a mixture of runs and passes to march 70 yards to come within 28-21 as the end of the third quarter was on the horizon. Royster had the pivotal play as he and Duran connected once again, this time from 36 yards.
Grant was desperate to establish itself again, having not tallied any points in the second half. But the Tritons were able to force the Pacers into a field goal attempt after they failed to score on 10 plays. Kicker Jose Romero attempted a 22-yard field goal which went wide left and Pacifica had life.
Looking for the tying touchdown, Duran was cool and calm as he led Pacifica on a classic 80-yard drive that took 13 plays. It was the combination of Duran and Royster again. The Tritons had climbed the mountain and tied the score 28-28.
If there was pressure, it was clearly on Grant — still scoreless for nearly two quarters. But as Alexander took the filed, he would have nothing of it. With approximately four minutes to work with, the Pacers had 72 yards of turf in front of them.
Utilizing the run much more in the second half, freshman Tyson Griffin reeled off two good gainers. Alexander took advantage of soft coverage and it was Griffin again with two catches for 29 yards. With the clock running down well-below one minute at 22 seconds, Alexander found Shabazz in stride for the game-winning 18-yard reception.
“It was just the mentality of not panicking and not to let the moment get to big for us,” Alexander said. “Tyson made some nice runs to set it up and they were looking for the running back on that play. I’ve been connecting witk Koby all year and it paid off on the biggest play of the year.”
There was virtually no time for Pacifica to attempt any sort of miracle play. The time clock reached 0:00 and Grant was crowned the 2024 California 2-AA champions. This was the third straight season the Pacers were in a state championship game and their second title in that span. It’s their third overall with the other coming in the 2008 Open Division.
“I’m too old for this, but the team showed they were ready and showed a lot of heart,” said Grant head coach Carl Reed. “It was harder maybe than it should have been, but we had the time to score at the end.”
It was Grant’s third straight game of scoring go-ahead points in the final seconds. Last week, it was field goal by Romero with one second left in a 30-28 win vs St. Francis. And then in the Sac-Joaquin Section D2 final, it was a one-handed TD catch in the end zone with 34 seconds left by Edwards that beat Rocklin.
The two schools were evenly matched in terms of the final statistics. Pacifica gained 374 yards of total offense with Grant gaining 411. Both quarterbacks tossed three touchdown passes. Alexander was 22-of-43 for 303 yards and Duran was 23-of-35 for 293 yards.
Sophomore Phelps gained 85 yards rushing and teammate Royster gained 112 yards receiving on eight receptions and three touchdowns (and one rushing) for Pacifica.
For Grant, Shabazz had six catches for 108 yards and one touchdown. Zo Edwards and Brandon Lambert had one touchdown apiece. Jeremiah Tuilleila notched three sacks and five tackles for loss for the Pacers.
Pacifica finished the season 11-5 overall. Grant ended 12-3.
Duran was the epitome of Pacifica’s big comeback from the 28-7 halftime deficit.
“We knew we had to fix our mistakes in the second half,” he said. “I started to understand I had to make some plays and extend plays more. We’ve been doing that all year. We had to win every game to get here after we had a 3-4 start. It sucks to lose like this, but I wouldn’t want to do this with any other group of guys.”
In games played Friday at Veterans Stadium (Long Beach):
DIVISION 3-AA
Frontier (Bakersfield) 19, Amador Valley (Pleasanton) 14
Two fairly evenly matched teams both making their first ever CIF state title game championship appearance squared off in this game but in the end it was the running game and the pass rush of CIF Central Section Division 1-A champion Frontier of Bakersfield that prevailed in a victory over CIF North Coast Section Division 2 champion Amador Valley of Pleasanton.
Frontier senior running back RJ Green carried the ball 13 times for 147 yards and one touchdown, and junior running back Malcolm Watkins added 86 yards on eight carries, plus he had 62 yards receiving and one touchdown.
Frontier (11-4) only had three series in the second half, but it was in the first half that the Titans scored all their points and of their total of 247 yards rushing 204 of them came in a first half that saw Frontier holding an 18-8 lead.
The first quarter was scoreless but on the first play of the second quarter Frontier junior quarterback Brady Campbell found Green on a 14-yard TD pass and after a blocked PAT the Titans had a 6-0 lead.
Amador Valley (10-5) came right back on its next series when on fourth-and-three Oregon State-committed senior quarterback Tristan Tia connected with junior tight end McKay Kenitzer on a 33-yard TD pass. Tia ran in the 2-point conversion, and it was 8-6 Amador Valley.
Frontier got its final tally and took the lead for good with 16 seconds left in the first half on a 4-yard TD pass from Campbell to junior tight end Braxton Sherley.
Amador Valley scored on a 24-yard TD pass from Tia to junior wide receiver Anthony Harrington with 8:09 left in the third quarter for the game’s final tally, but despite having three more possessions the Dons could not score. The first possession went 13 plays but ended with a sack on Tia. Two sacks on Tia ended the second possession. On the third possession, Amador Valley got the ball to its own 46-yard line, but on fourth-and-eight Tia threw an incompletion and Frontier took a knee to exhaust the clock.
Tia completed 8-of-15 passes for 153 yards and two touchdowns, but Frontier sacked him six times. Junior running back Ismael Duenas added 66 yards rushing on 19 carries.
Mason Caturegli and Gabe Casanovas were both chewing out the rushing yards for St. Vincent de Paul during state title win vs Highland of Palmdale. Photo: Harold Abend.
DIVISION 4-AA
St. Vincent de Paul (Petaluma) 25, Highland (Palmdale) 23
A lot was made of tiny Rio Hondo Prep of Arcadia facing off against Vanden of Fairfield in the CIF 3-A Bowl Game championship on Saturday at Long Beach City College, but there was another David versus Goliath matchup and that was in the 4-AA Bowl Game on Friday evening where St. Vincent de Paul took on Highland of Palmdale, a school that has 10 times the enrollment of the Petaluma parochial school.
In this case, size was not an advantage as St. Vincent de Paul (14-1) fell behind 7-0 but scored 25 unanswered points and then had to hold on at the end.
The junior duo of quarterback Gabe Casanovas and running back Mason Caturegli provided almost all the offense and had a hand in all four Mustangs’ touchdowns. Casanovas was 9-of-11 passing for 96 yards and two touchdowns, and he carried the ball 19 times for 162 yards. Caturegli had 24 carries for 133 yards rushing with one touchdown, plus he caught a 5-yard TD pass in his lone reception. The other St. Vincent de Paul touchdown came on a Hail Mary 27-yard pass from Casanovas to senior wide receiver Tye Nickens with only 11 seconds left in the first half.
“The key was they couldn’t stop our running game,” remarked St. Vincent de Paul head coach Trent Herzog.
After deferring and kicking off, Highland (11-5) held St. Vincent de Paul on its first series and took over at its own 36 on downs. On its very first play, Nevada-committed senior quarterback Justin Wyatt Jr. found senior wide receiver Demond Blanchard all alone after he ran past the defender and the two connected on a 64-yard TD pass and just like that it was 7-0 Highland.
The problem for the Bulldogs’ faithful was their team did not score again until there was 2:33 left to play on a 34-yard TD pass to Blanchard, and although they capitalized on a fumble by Caturegli on the ensuing St. Vincent de Paul series and scored again with 2:16 to play on a third TD pass to Blanchard, it was too little to late as the Mustangs were able to take four knees and run out the clock.
Wyatt Jr. completed 11-of-26 passes for 249 yards and three TDs, but he was only 3-for-10 for 86 yards in a first half that saw the Bulldogs trailing 18-7, and 188 of his passing yards came on four big plays. He also rushed for 41 yards.
In games played Friday at Fullerton UHSD Stadium:
DIVISION 5-AA
Carmel 48, El Capitan (Lakeside) 7
The Padres have been a team with multi-sport athletes making plays on both sides of the ball all season and they simply took care of business in capping a perfect 15-0 season with their first CIF state title.
According to reports from the Monterey Herald, Ashton Reis had a huge night on offense with 208 yards rushing and five touchdowns. QB Hudson Rutherford had 307 yards passing and two scores with both of those going to Brooklyn Ashe. Matt Maxon, a D1 baseball star, had two interceptions on defense. That unit also came up with two other interceptions that put the game out of reach for the Vaqueros in early going. The game was played with a running clock in the fourth quarter.
Head coach Golden Anderson had to know that this was a group that could something like this perhaps as early as last season. One never knows how all of the competitive equity seedings and playoff divisions will work out, but for Carmel it did. No, we will never know what might have happened if the Padres and St. Vincent de Paul had played this season, but 15-0 is 15-0. Depending on what happens with Twelve Bridges (14-0 coming into the weekend) that 15-0 record may be the best in California for any level of the game.
DIVISION 7-AA
Moreau Catholic (Hayward) 42, Lindsay 8
Both schools had to travel for this matchup as Lindsay is from eastern Tulare County in the CIF Central Section. It was a bit too far of an upward level of competition, however, for the Cardinals as they fell to the Bay Area squad by a large margin.
Moreau Catholic won its first-ever CIF state title under head coach Keith Minor.
The Mariners scored first on a 81-yard punt return by Jalen Arnold. Eric Fields had a 65-yard fumble return touchdown and Peyton Collins had an 80-yard interception return in the third quarter. Moreau’s defense also held Lindsay to just 21 yards rushing.
Mark Tennis is the co-founder and publisher of CalHiSports.com. He can be reached at markjtennis@gmail.com. Don’t forget to follow Mark on the Cal-Hi Sports Twitter handle.
