CHAMAKAZE
Serra 41- Chaminade 28
Chaminade on a rainy Saturday night, Halloween much less. Scary. With virtually no chance of making the CIF playoffs, Chaminade came to win or go down in flames. Chamakaze!!!
It should have been obvious from the opening play. How often do you see an onside kick to start the game? Chaminade went for it on fourth down every time, it kicked on side every time. But it was go down in flames at the end of the day. The Eagles scored, they led at halftime, but they couldn't land that fatal blow. Final score: Serra 41 - Chaminade 28.
Serra remains tied for first place in the Mission League, Chaminade has time for Christmas shopping.
Despite Chaminade's disappointing record coming in, it was nip and tuck, tuck and nip during the first half. The Eagles ran two, count 'em, two Serra kickoffs back for touchdowns. The second of those came with 22 seconds left in the half, and after Serra scored on a 60-yard Hail Mary with only 30 seconds remaining. That's about as last second as you can get. The down trodden Eagles went into the locker room up 28 to 27.
The second half was a bare fisted slug-it-out affair. Each team had four long possessions. There were no punts. Chaminade went for it on fourth down twice and failed to convert both times. The other two possessions ended with interceptions. Serra fumbled the ball away to end one of its four second half possessions, but scored two other. Serra's fourth and final possession was from the victory formation. Second half score: Serra 13, Chaminade 0.
The key to victory, as it has been in every game, was Khalil Tate's legs. Tate carried the ball on half of Serra's running plays for a total of 214 yards on the night. It's not always clear when the play was meant to be a OB run or whether Tate started out intending the pass. What is clear is that Tate has become a more credible passer and that has opened up the run for him.
Although Tate completed only four for fourteen passes, two of Tate's four completions resulted in touchdowns. Just as important, the other passes were catchable.
Ironically, Caleb Wilson's move to tight end is a big part of Tate's improved passing game. Wilson is a tall, powerful receiver who provides Tate with a dependable target in tough situations. Two of Tate's passing touchdowns went to Wilson on slants across the middle. Wilson bulled the ball across the end line on both catches.
The other two passing TDs went to Deontay Burton. Both were highlight-reel plays. With 30 seconds left in the first half, with Serra and the Cav fans in a funk after Chaminade scored on a penalty-aided touchdown, with rain falling, and with the Eagles in prevent, Burton went up between two Eagles, pulled down Tate's fifty yard heave at the five and waltzed in for the go-ahead TD.
Burton's second TD came at the beginning of the fourth quarter. With Serra in the lead and 8 plays into a clock-eating drive, the Cavs lined up 1st and 10 at the Chaminade 12. Tate dropped a short behind-the-line pass to Burnett, running with blockers to the right. But the Eagles had the edge bottled up. Burnett braked, wheeled 180�, and ran left, leaving the 11 Eagles flapping their empty wings. He coasted into the east corner of end zone for the last touchdown of the night.
Running: Darrion Naylor scored Serra's first TD of the night at 8:42 of the first quarter. It capped a three-play drive in which Tate accounted for 50 yards on two runs. Naylor followed excellent blocking right up the gut for the final 15.
Tate carried in Serra's second score from the Chaminade 38 on the first play of the second quarter. Again, Tate's skill as a runner was matched by the blocking support he got from the O line. Not to be overlooked, Malik Roberson carried the ball in for two 2-point conversions when they threatened to be the difference. Both were pure power runs through the scrum.
Scoring plays get the headlines, but Serra's dominant second half was the work of the ground crew: tough, grind-it-out-3 yards-at-a-pop, run-the clock football made possible by the O line. Tate, Naylor, Roberson and not to be neglected, Job McGinty, did the damage.
As for defense: Two interceptions and four stops on fourth tells the story. In fact, Chaminade may have been the first game this season where the offense played up to the defense. If Friday's performance get's less attention in this summary, it's because the Chaminade offense didn't quite put it up to the test it got from Crespi or Alemany.
And looking back, we shouldn't forget that Serra held Amat to a season low of 14 points, 23 points below their average against everyone else. If the offense had played against Amat the way they did against Chaminade, Serra would have a perfect maiden season in the Mission League at this point.
Obviously there were things to worry about. Two kickoff returns for touchdowns were uncharacteristic. But opponents have consistently enjoyed favorable field position after Serra's short kickoffs. Place kicking was an off and on problem Friday night. Two for three on PATs is problematic.
The really big issue is penalties. There ought to be a grand jury investigation. There's a consensus in the Serra nation that the Cavs are consistently getting a bad deal from the zebras. Who knows? What is clear is that penalties are like the extra weights they put on racehorses. Serra has to overcome the zebras. Unofficially, Serra had to overcome 9 penalties in the first half. Seventy lost yards not counting the gains that were nullified: 3 motion, 3 off sides, 1 hold, 1 roughing the passer, 1 interference. The Cavs improved or the refs let up in the second half. Only three penalties on the Cavs: 1 motion, 1 interference and 1 unsportsmanlike. The unsportsmanlike was for continuing to play when the helmet came off. Not much room to argue about that last one.
Serra plays at home next Friday against last place Loyola. Spoiler alert: there's a long history between Serra and Loyola, and most of it is unfavorable from Serra's point of view. Since the 1950s, Serra's has been beaten a lot more often than it's beat the Cubs, and usually it's been the Cubs coming from behind. Next Friday's game is the Cubs' last chance to salvage something from a grim season. Cubakaze!!! The Cavs have to be careful.
Lawrence Trice Jr. '06 is shown here with his teacher extraordinaire, Norm Chavez. Lawrence donated a copy of his new book, "Sprinting to a Better Life" to our growing Alumni Author's Library. Lawrence visited Serra last week with his business associates Shakaia Pinnick and her brother, future (2016) NFL d-back, Chris Pinnick. Lawrence and Shakaia are in training at the Stub Hub Center for the US indoor track and field championships and the 2016 Olympics. Lawrence will be attending the Loyola game this Friday and will spend some time at the Alumni Table before the game.
Lawrence is joined by Lady Cavs Turquoise Thompson '09 and Urina Harrell '12 as potential Olympians. Are we leaving any future Cavalier Olympians out?
Last Week's Front Gate
From left to right above, some of this week's Front Gate visitors included Alumni Council President, Helena Conley, Patrice Martin from Easter Seals, Maria Johnson, author of The Root, Shonta Scoggins Director of Eric's Vision, Jerome Theirry '81, Alumni Council Treasurer, Diane Drolet, Easter Seals, Vince Kates '61, Alumni Council, Mike Almaraz '75, Alumni Council and Bro. Norm Capinpin, S.M.
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