October 14, 2012
The weekend started with Bellarmine, Serra, St. Ignatius, and St.
Francis undefeated in West Catholic Athletic League play. St. Ignatius
defeated St. Francis on Friday while the Bells defeated Serra in San
Mateo, 35-34, in overtime.
Scoring summary: In the first half, Serra's Eric Redwood started the scoring with a 3 yard touchdown run. K.J. Carta-Samuels
tied it up with a 17 yard pass to Joey Sanfilippo. Serra regained the
lead 14-7 on a Zack Kazakoff 9 yard pass to Fia Malepeai. Carta-Samuels
then ran it in from 5 yards to tie it 14-14. Daniel Fields gave
Bellarmine a 21-14 halftime lead on a 5 yard punt block return.
In the second half, Carta-Samuels scored on a 2 yard run to give the
Bells their biggest lead at 28-14. In the fourth quarter, Redwood had
touchdown runs of 3 and 75 yards to tie the game at 28-28 in regulation.
Carta-Samuels threw a 10 yard touchdown to Austin Changras to make it
35-28. Redwood then added a 4 yard run for Serra's overtime possession
but the two point conversion running attempt by him was stopped to end
the game.
Unit Breakdown: Bellarmine has a true dual
threat offensive with Carta-Samuels. He accounted for all four
offensive touchdowns as he was efficient in completing 12 of 15 passes
for 201 yards and running for another 31 yards. Inexplicably, the
offense fumbled the away on the first plays from scrimmage in both the
first and second quarters but overcame the lone turnovers of the game.
Serra
has a triple threat in the backfield that features Redwood who had 180
yards with 4 touchdown runs. Angelo Arco had 71 yards rushing to
complement Redwood while quarterback Kazakoff is a mobile scrambler.
Redwood is a threat to score every time he touches the ball which would
make opponents wise to load up against the run and force the Padres to
throw more often.
Defense: After giving up 41 points to De
La Salle in the season opener, the Bells had been playing stifling
defense up to this game. The offense had two fumbles that set the
defense up with bad field position. But the unit came up big in the
overtime with the key stop on the two point conversion and should be
expected to play more stoutly for the rest of the regular season.
Give
the Serra unit credit as the team could have folded after trailing
28-14 in the third quarter. The team made key stops to give the offense
chances to tie and possibly win the game during regulation. A
quarterback of the caliber of Carta-Samuels will give most defenses fits
as this Serra defensive effort was not all self inflicted but a
stronger effort will be needed if the team wants to go far in the
postseason.
Special Teams: Bellarmine was able to kickoff
into the end zone most of the times to negate Redwood's return ability.
The punt block was critical as it swung momentum right before the first
half ended. And the two point conversion miss by Serra in overtime was
the difference.
Next Steps and Analysis: Bellarmine is
the favorite to win the WCAL as they have key matchups with St. Francis
and St. Ignatius in the following two weeks. The latter game could be a
battle of league unbeatens to determine first place. Carta-Samuels
looked accurate with his short, mid, and long throws while being quite
elusive in the pocket to buy time or to scramble for yards. The blowout
loss to De La Salle looks to be a long time ago as the Bells have made
great strides to reach this point of the season.
Serra was unable
to replicate a two point conversion like in their win against Buhach
Colony. The Padres end the season with St. Ignatius and St. Francis as
much is still on the line. Redwood is a shifty runner who can break
away at any time. Defenses should key on him and force others on
offense to make plays. The Serra defense hung in there against the
Bells passing game but should not force the offense to win these
offensive slugfests. The boys from San Mateo look to regroup against
league doormat Sacred Heart Cathedral to build confidence going into the
final three games of league play.
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