Marin Catholic’s Jared Goff, Akili Terry and Alex Poksay celebrate after winning 2012 CIF NorCal Division III bowl game. Photo by Harold Abend.
This school has one of college football’s top current QBs as an alum and has won 236 games since 1990, including two trips to the CIF state bowl games. Still, it took many years of winning to overcome poor records for most of the school’s first three decades of existence. Marin Catholic now has all of its football scores in one archive provided by Cal-Hi Sports.
Up next in this series: Los Banos. For more on the Cal-Hi Sports football archives project and on how we can help your school, CLICK HERE.
In the task of compiling these all-time football scores archives for various schools, there are some that are well-known for success in recent years but certainly were not that successful going back to their beginning.
Marin Catholic of Kentfield, which so far in the 2010s has one of the best records in the state at 61-9, is one of those schools. While the Wildcats didn’t begin that badly at 4-3-1 and 5-4 in their very first seasons, which were in 1949 and 1950 (the school basically started after World War II), they were only 33-49-2 for the 1950s.
It was even worse in the 1960s as Marin Catholic only won seven games in six seasons in one stretch and finished the decade 39 games below .500. It wasn’t quite so bad in the 1970s (a 7-2 squad from 1971 stands out) but the fortunes of the program didn’t really start to change until the middle of the 1980s under head coach Larry Gondola.
Gondola actually began in 1976, taking over for former NFL player Bruno Banducci, who became a longtime math teacher and coach at the school after earning six Pro Bowl selections as an offensive lineman with the San Francisco 49ers and was on the very first 49ers’ team.
Gondola’s 1985 team won the CIF North Coast Section 2A North title, but in those days the NCS also had a 2A North vs. 2A South championship game. The Wildcats lost in that game 45-14, but since it was to a school (De La Salle of Concord) that would go on to do a lot more that loss in retrospect wasn’t that bad.
Marin Catholic head coach Mazi Moayed has gone 12-1, 13-1, 14-2, 12-1 and 10-4 in his first five seasons. Photo: Bill Schneider/VarsityPix.
In 1989, Marin Catholic did win the NCS 2A title with a 16-12 triumph over Concord and finished up the school’s first unbeaten season at 13-0. The following year’s team in 1990 appeared to be on its way to doing the same thing, but was upset in the playoffs 9-7 by Sonoma Valley.
After going 13-0 again in 1993 and winning the NCS Redwood Empire title (there was no game with an East Bay team that year), Gondola moved on to Marin College for five years. He has since returned as a computer education teacher and has helped coach.
Gondola’s departure also did not curtail any continued improvement and success. Strong seasons continued for first Mark Haering, then Scott Morrison (who is just starting this season at Corona Santiago), and then Ken Peralta (currently the head coach at Sacred Heart Cathedral).
Peralta’s team in 2009 dropped its first game by one point to St. Ignatius of San Francisco, but eventually won the NCS Division III title and was selected to play insanely talented Serra of Gardena in the CIF Division III state bowl game. The Wildcats had their chances for a big upset, but eventually fell 24-20.
Under current coach Mazi Moayed, the Wildcats reached the CIF Division III bowl game again in 2012. That team was led by quarterback Jared Goff and was favored by some to beat Madison of San Diego. Goff completed 14 of 30 passes for 262 yards and four TDs, but a late TD by Madison’s Pierre Cormier and a late interception by Goff resulted in a 38-35 defeat.
Goff was starting at Cal the very next season and enters the 2015 season already holding 19 school records and is regarded by some as the top QB prospect for the 2016 NFL Draft.
Despite all the recent winning seasons, it took Marin Catholic until the middle of the 1997 campaign until it finally broke .500 for its winning record. One of the schools the Wildcats struggled mightily against in those early years, San Rafael, also still doesn’t have a losing record in head-to-head matchups. Part of the reason for that is that Marin Catholic is no longer playing San Rafael annually (the last time was a 52-0 win in 2011).
Here are some other Marin Catholic football records that the school now has in its possession courtesy of this archive initiative:
WIN-LOSS RECORDS FOR EACH DECADE
1940s: 4-3-1
1950s: 33-49-2
1960s: 19-58-3
1970s: 41-53-2
1980s: 72-33-0
1990s: 97-23-2
2000s: 78-42-0
2010s: 61-9-0
REPORTED ALL-TIME RECORD HEADING INTO 2015 SEASON:
405 WINS, 247 LOSSES, 9 TIES
61.9 ALL-TIME WINNING PERCENTAGE
(Based on half-win, half-loss for tie)
Best Records For Single Season
13-0 – 1989
13-0 – 1993
12-0 – 1998
12-1 – 2003
12-1 – 1994
Worst Records For Single Season
0-9 – 1954
0-8 – 1981
1-7 – 1961
1-7 – 1963
1-7 – 1964
Most Points Scored (Single Game)
69 – VS. Justin (Napa), 1969
63 – VS. Redwood (Larkspur), 2014
62 – VS. Redwood (Larkspur), 1993
62 – VS. Encinal (Alameda), 1998
62 – VS. Fortuna, 2005
60 – VS. Redwood (Larkspur), 1998
60 – VS. San Marin (Novato), 1998
60 – VS. Redwood (Larkspur), 2010
60 – VS. Redwood (Larkspur), 2011
Most Lopsided Wins
63-0 VS. Redwood (Larkspur), 2014
62-0 VS. Encinal (Alameda), 1998
60-0 VS. San Marin (Novato), 1998
56-0 VS. O’Connell (San Francisco), 1971
56-0 VS. Drake (San Anselmo), 1985
56-0 VS. Drake (San Anselmo), 2013
55-0 VS. Novato, 2013
60-6 VS. Redwood (Larkspur), 2010
53-0 VS. Tamalpais (Mill Valley), 2005
56-3 VS. Terra Linda (San Rafael), 2008
59-6 VS. Miramonte (Orinda), 2012
Most Points Allowed (Single Game)
57 – VS. Novato, 1979
54 – VS. Terra Linda (San Rafael), 1975
53 – VS. Drake (San Anselmo), 1966
52 – VS. Benicia, 1953
49 – VS. Cardinal Newman (Santa Rosa), 1973
48 – VS. St. Mary’s (Stockton), 1995
Most Lopsided Losses
53-0 VS. Drake (San Anselmo), 1966
57-8 VS. Novato, 1979
46-0 VS. St. Mary’s (Berkeley), 1979
45-0 VS. Tamalpais (Mill Valley), 1954
43-0 VS. Novato, 1964
49-6 VS. Cardinal Newman (Santa Rosa), 1973
Records Against Notable Opponents
40-19-1 VS. Tamalpais (Mill Valley)
32-15-0 VS. Drake (San Anselmo)
13-3-0 VS. Justin-Siena (Napa)*
30-17-0 VS. Redwood (Larkspur)
27-16-0 VS. Terra Linda (San Rafael)
23-17-1 VS. San Marin (Novato)
25-20-0 VS. Novato
28-28-1 VS. San Rafael
9-12-0 VS. Cardinal Newman (Santa Rosa)
*Includes years when it was simply Justin (Napa).
Longest Winning Streaks
26-0 – 1988-1990 (won last three, then 13-0, then first 10)
22-0 – 1997-1998 (won last 10, then first 12)
19-0 – 1993-1994 (went 13-0, then won first six)
13-0 – Accomplished three times
Longest Losing Streaks
0-15 – 1952-1953 (lost last game, then 0-9, then lost first five)*
0-12 – 1980-1981 (lost last four, then 0-8)
*Also part of 0-17-1 winless streak.
Remember, any school in the state can have this research finished in a customized fashion in return for a reasonable fee. For details, CLICK HERE.
Thanks to Stockton office assistant editor Paul Muyskens for contributing to this post. 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: @CalHiSports
One Comment
Impressive history