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Junipero Serra High School Alumni eNewsletter
Shock 'n Awe
There will be no more exciting football game played at any level than the game Serra played Oceanside on Friday, September 6. Serra won the game 50-39 overcoming a tur-RIF-ick Oceanside Pirate team in the last three minutes of the Honor Bowl. Honor was the word. It would have been an honorable loss if Oceanside had won; it was a game that neither team deserved to lose.
Going into the game, Oceanside was ranked #1 in the CIF San Diego section and 44th in the Nation. Plus, Oceanside felt they should have been selected to play for the State Championship last year and not the Cavaliers. So Oceanside was motivated.
Serra trailed forty three minutes out of forty eight, but took the lead with 3:19 remaining in the game and dominated from there to the final gun. Serra ran 78 plays to Oceanside's 50, mostly because the Pirates' kick-off game was awesome. Seven kickoffs, seven touchbacks.
Once again Jalen Greene was the warp and weave of the win, mostly by running out of trouble when a planned pass broke down. On the stat sheet, he was 21 for 36 three hundred six yards and three TDs. He ran 20 times for 131 yards and two TDs. At least 10 of those runs were scrambles after looking for the chance to pass.
Although the Cavalier defense gave up a lot of yards, especially to the pass; the defense as a team was solid. Malachi Mageo and Olajuwon Tucker had the highlight plays. Mageo with an important fumble recovery and, more dramatically, with an interception run back that was, as Churchill phrased it, "if not the beginning of the end, the end of the beginning." Tucker snagged three athletic interceptions.
As so often, Serra had to prevail not only over the Pirates, but their own mistakes. The Cavs were penalized 14 times for 180 yards, which only begins to indicate the damage. One Serra touchdown was called back and at least two other calls gave new life to Pirate drives that ended in scores. Meanwhile the Pirates were flagged seven times for 80 yards, and two of those calls were pivotal to Serra's eventual victory.
Stats just can't do justice to this terrific game. Neither can words, but here's an attempt:
Serra vs. Oceanside was more than a football game. It was the Honor Bowl.
An Iraq-Afghanistan Marine Veteran spoke to the teams in the locker rooms before the game about honor, commitment and "Semper Fi."
Then, on the field, the crowd and the players stood in awe as 4 Marine skydivers delivered the game ball to the field.
Then the game. Serra kicked off to the east. The kick was fielded at the 5 and returned to the 35. The Pirates, led by quarterback Matt Romero, moved the remaining sixty five yards in seven plays. Romero and his receivers were in perfect sync, and the Serra secondary was left pretty much flat footed. The drive ended on a simple nine yard out for the first score of the game. The Pirates faked the extra point kick; Romero rolled out and threw a second strike to the end zone for an additional point that hung over the Cavaliers' head for most of the rest of the game. 8-0, 10:36 remaining in the first quarter.
Despite Adoreé Jackson's valiant attempt to climb the ladder, the Pirates kickoff sailed well into the end zone, and the Cavs had no chance to show their vaunted return game. Ditto for every subsequent Pirate kick of the game.
It took the Cavs 13 plays and four minutes to move eighty yards to their first TD. Six passes, six runs, two of them Greene inprovs, and Serra had to decide about that eighth point. Altenberg played it safe and kicked.
Pirates 8 - Serra 7 6:31 remaining in the first.
Using the famous Serra pooch kick off technique, Serra kicked a nubber that bounded through the first and second lines, and took a perfect hop into the deep receiver's hands. The Pirates ended up first and ten at their 28.
Two runs and a shovel pass to avoid a sack brought the Pirates to their own forty: third and ten. Romero rolled out and passed to the flat. Tucker back pedaled, leaped about fourteen inches, caught the ball and returned it to the Pirates' 27. On the next play, Greene threw a rainbow to the far corner of the end zone to the far side of the field; Lasley caught the ball on his fingertips and just managed to put a foot down inbounds. Serra jumped into the lead, 14-8.
It lasted twenty seconds. A penalty and a relatively short kick set the Pirates up at their 38. A fifteen yard roughing call against Serra moved the ball to the 50, then a quick pass to Mikah Holder on the east (Serra) sideline, and Serra confronted something it rarely sees. A receiver who out ran the Cavalier secondary. TD with 4:39 remaining in the first. The Pirates didn't press their luck ny going for 2 again, perfect TAD, almost straight up unblockable, and through the uprights. Pirates back on top 15-14.
Automatic restart at the Serra 20. The Cavs moved to the Pirate 29 in nine plays aided by an interference call on the Pirates, but, 4th and 6, Greene's pass on a slant in was too low, the Cavs were stymied.
The Pirates moved to their 41 with two short runs and a quick throw. The next two passes fell incomplete as the Cavs' D-line put pressure on Romero. Then a prefect crossing pattern picked off the Serra corner opening the field for Johnny Azola, who went 54 yards. Point after good: Pirates 22-Cavs 14, and the Serra fans starting to wonder, like Butch Cassidy, "Who are those guys?"
Serra started at the 20, and moved thirty yards in three plays. A loss of one, then a mistaken throw into tight coverage. The disaster: the Pirate linebacker picks off a look in pass with fifty yards of open field and blockers in front of him. It must have been Jackson who managed to catch up and push the runner out of bounds at the one. Seemed like a symbolic accomplishment, but it became the classic example of why you never say die.
There was a flag on the field. It looked from the stands like another penalty on Serra. As the referee walked to the sideline to signal the infraction, another flag went up. Unsportsmanlike conduct on the Pirates, ball moved from the one to the sixteen. And the best is yet to come.
Two runs, no gain. Third down, Romero throws an out, the receiver is hit and fumbles, Mageo recovers at the Serra 19 and Serra dodges the bullet. It gets better.
Serra managed in a stop and start drive to score in seven plays, Greene doing the honors with a 34 yard planned run. Serra now back within one: 22-21, with 6:05 remaining in the half.
Another shortish Serra kickoff gave the Pirates excellent field position at their 41, but fourth and one, Serra held by a few inches and Oceanside decided to punt. The first punt of the game at 4:15 in the second quarter. It was like a sneezing fit. Serra does nothing and punts at 2:44. Oceanside does nothing and punts at 1:44. Now some drama.
Serra starts at its twenty. Seven plays, using up 1:11 of that 1:44, and Serra goes ahead for the second time in the game on a Greene to Lasley pass over the middle. 35 ticks and only 35 ticks remaining in the half.
Serra's kickoff is fielded at the Pirates' 37. 0:25..Pass over the middle to the Pirates' 48. 0:16 Spike, 0.15. Romero to Holder at the Serra 45, Holder shakes one tackle, moves five yards, sheds a second, third and fourth tackler and crosses the goal line with 4 ticks remaining in the half. Serra's lead lasted 27 seconds. Half Time Oceanside 29-Serra 28.
Well, Serra gets the ball first in the second half. Serra runs for eight, then as Greene is pressured his attempted throw is ruled a fumble, and Oceanside has the ball at the Serra 23. 50 seconds into the second half.
On the next play, Oceanside had its best run of the night, right up the middle 23 yards for what seemed at the moment the back breaking TD. Point after good. 36-28 Pirates.
A holding call stymied Serra on the next possession.
After Serra's punt, the Pirates moved from their 21 to the Serra 45 in six plays, helped by a personal foul call on the Cavs. Stopped there, the Pirates kicked the longest field goal in Oceanside history, 52 yards, and it might have been at least 57. Pirates pulling way 39-28. but 17:32 left in the game.
Serra moved to the Pirates' 21 aided by an amazing catch of a forty yard pass taken away from the defender on the way to the ground. But Serra couldn't manage three yards and turned the ball over on downs at 3:04 in the third. Heads were starting to hang in the Serra stands.
Heads bobbed up quickly. On second and nine, Dakota Miller, substituting for Romero who apparently was injured, drifted back and lobbed into a screen of Pirates. Mageo picked it off and ran in for a touchdown. Altenberg called time, went for the two point conversion plain as the nose on your face, and Greene made it work. Serra 36, Oceanside 39 with 2:22 left in the third quarter.
It's sometimes hard to tell, but Serra's kick was meant to be an on-sides kick. The ball lofted over the fifty and was fielded by Serra at the 45. But the rule now is that the ball must touch the ground before it can be fielded by the kicking team. So Serra was assessed a 15-yard penalty from the Oceanside 40.
The Serra defense was becoming ferocious. After throwing Miller for a 5-yard loss, the Cavs intercepted again and ran it in for a touchdown. Too ferocious: TD called back for roughing the passer. Another fifteen-yard setback. The Pirates suffered a serious loss of passing accuracy when Romero went to the side line. Three pass attempts left them fourth and ten at the Serra 40. The Pirates set up for a slightly shorter field goal. The ball may have been tipped slightly, it veered off to the left and landed a few feet short. Serra's ball at the 40 with 27 seconds remaining in the third.
Serra started the fourth with a long series frustrated by two penalty calls. Serra had to punt with 8:42 remaining in the game. Pirates in business at their own 20. They moved out to the Serra 42. Then Tucker did it again, picking off a Miller sideline pass and returning it to the Pirate 40. Alas, refusing to go down, Adoreé Jackson was stripped and the Pirates got the ball back at their 34. Three plays got them nowhere, but they improved field position. Serra started the next series at its own 22.
The Serra offense sputtered a little. Great catch for a first to the 33; then two misfires, then a third-and-long pass was scooped up as it was about to touch the turf and the Cavs remained in possession at the Oceanside 48. Two more sputters and a motion penalty and Serra faced third and six at the 44. Greene avoided the Pirate pass rush, drifted, cut back and killed time until Lasley opened up at about the ten. Greened fired, the Pirate safety just missed, and Lasley was dancing through the end zone, turning the game around for good. PAT good. Serra 43-39 with 3:19 to play.
Serra went all out for a deep kick. It landed at the Pirate ten, took a weird bounce and, shades of last week, there was a scramble for the ball. John Houston came up with it at the 19. Adoreé Jackson slashed into the end zone on the next play. It was called back. A weird double foul was ruled to move the ball to the seven where again Jackson ran the ball in, this time taking to the air and flipping over the defender in a replay of his highlight move in last year's championship game. PAT good, and Serra was two scores in front 50-39. And it was all over.
Pat Lynch '59
Next up: Serra vs. Notre Dame at 7:00PM this Friday, February 13. Is it true that Serra has never defeated Notre Dame at Angie Kretzschmar Stadium?
Notre Dame is 17th in the State, and like Desert Ridge, Oceanside and more to come, they will be looking to make their season with a win over the Cavaliers.
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