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PALO ALTO BOWS TO MITTY By Gordon Kass - Daily News Correspondent
Posted: 09/19/2015 12:51:34 AM PDT LOS ALTOS HILLS -- Palo Alto fought Mitty-San Jose for a half, but the Monarchs pulled away for a 52-28 nonleague football victory at Foothill College on Friday evening. The Vikings dropped to 1-2, while the Monarchs stayed spotless at 3-0. Senior quarterback Justin Hull threw 43 times for Paly, completing 17 passes for 177 yards and two touchdowns. Wideout Riley Schoeben caught eight balls for 103 yards and two scores. Paly speedster Eli Givens, often covered with multiple defenders, had four receptions for 47 yards. "We hung with them most of the game, but the depth issue kicked in," Paly coach Jake Halas said. "They kinda wore on us. Most of our guys are playing both ways. They have a very explosive offense with great coaches and phenomenal football players." Paly jumped on top early in an exciting first half. A bad Mitty punt snap sailed back into the end zone where Vikings defensive end Jon Samos alertly covered the ball for a touchdown. Paly defensive back Jordan Schilling picked off an errant pass on Mitty's next possession, returning it 20 yards to the Monarchs 13. Hull found Schoeben for a 15-yard touchdown pass and the Vikings enjoyed a 14-0 lead only 4:52 into the game. Mitty was paced by quarterback Sam Serra's four touchdown passes. Running back Derek Bauerle rushed for 158 yards and a score on 18 carries for the Monarchs, adding 52 yards and a touchdown on two catches. Hull led a 19-play, 84-yard drive to even the score at 21-21, with 1:16 left in the half. That possession featured two successful fourth-down conversions, both on passes to Schoeben. With 14 seconds left in the half and the ball on their own 30-yard line, the Monarchs dialed up a pass play that produced a shocking result. Serra found his receivers covered, scrambled up the middle and then turned the corner on the left edge. Serra roared down the sideline to the end zone as the clock expired to put Mitty up 28-21. "I got past the linebackers and I saw the edge," Serra said. "I saw I had three receivers that could block. I just took off." "That scramble really hurt the momentum," Halas said. "It stung." Schilling recovered a Mitty fumble on the first play from scrimmage of the second half. Paul Jackson III then weaved through tacklers for a 31-yard gain to move the ball to the 4-yard line. On fourth down, Hull threw a fade pass to Schoeben, who made a highlight reel catch under heavy coverage for a touchdown, the score tied 28-28. Palo Alto 14 7 7 0 -- 28 Mitty 14 14 14 10 -- 52 First Quarter PA -- Samos recovers punt snap in end zone (Dorward kick) 9:26 PA —-- Schoeben 15 pass from Hull (Dorward kick) 7:08 M -- Cairns 16 pass from Serra (Eppel kick) 3:40 M -- Bauerle 1 run (Eppel kick) 0:56 Second Quarter M -- Bauerle 44 pass from Serra (Eppel kick) 9:18 PA -- Hull 1 run (Dorward kick) 1:16 M -- Serra 70 run (Eppel kick) :00 Third Quarter PA -- Schoeben 9 pass from Hull (Dorward kick) 9:20 M -- McKinnon 16 pass from Serra (Eppel kick) 6:53 M -- Cairns 20 pass from Serra (Eppel kick) 5:05 Fourth Quarter M -- Eppel 20 FG 8:21 M -- Collier 1 run (Eppel kick) 6:57 INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING -- Palo Alto, Rider 4-26, Jackson III 6-24, Ochoa 6-21, Caballero-Santana 3-12, Inostrosa 1-7, Delgadillo 1-4, Soltero 1-2, Givens 1-0, Hull 4-(-4). Mitty, Bauerle 18-158, Serra 7-101, Kause 2-13, Collier 3-9, McKinnon 1-0, Tran 1-(-1). PASSING -- Palo Alto, Hull 17-43-177-3. Mitty, Serra 11-19-161-1, Tran 3-3-59-0. Totals 14-22-220-1. RECEIVING -- Palo Alto, Schoeben 8-103, Givens 4-47, Jefferson 1-8, Jackson III 1-8, Wolfgramm 1-7, Rider 2-4. Mitty, McKinnon 3-66, Bauerle 2-52, Cairns 3-46, Serra 1-24, Faraj-Washington 2-13, Dawson 1-8, Kause 1-6, Jochen 1-5. Trio of locals help Mitty top Aptos...
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Mitty rolls over Los Gatos 45-16
By Darren Sabedra dsabedra@mercurynews.com LOS ALTOS HILLS -- Sam Serra clearly is more than a basketball player. Back on the Archbishop Mitty football team after sitting out last year, the senior quarterback had a game he'll never forget in the season opener Friday night, leading the Monarchs to a 45-16 victory over Los Gatos at Foothill College. Serra scored on a 15-yard run and threw a 15-yard touchdown pass in the first half and then scored on runs of 30 and 54 yards in the second half to give new head coach Keith Burns, a former Raiders and San Jose State assistant, a victory in his first game. "I am really proud," Burns said, "First game you never know. I thought the coaches did a great job getting these guys prepared. You can't say enough about Sam Serra. But every time he was down the field, that meant we were doing a great job up front blocking." Mitty also looked awfully strong defensively, putting heavy pressure on quarterback Hunter Bigge for much of the game. The Monarchs had three sacks in the first half and two in a key sequence in the second half -- two from another basketball player, 6-foot-5, 221-pound Nick LaBruna. "We practice pass rushing every day, and we want that to be one of our strengths, being able to get to the quarterback," LaBruna said. "We never want him to be comfortable." Mission accomplished Friday.The Monarchs also intercepted two passes in the fourth quarter to put away an opponent that came in ranked fourth in the Mercury News' preseason Top 15. Mitty is eighth. Burns said during preseason preparation that he wanted to have an exciting, up-tempo spread style, and the new coach wasted no time letting the ball fly. On Mitty's first offensive play, Serra dropped back and lofted a perfect 39-yard pass down the middle of the field to Tyler Jochen, who fell down at the 1. The drive went in reverse after the big pass play, but Serra responded with a 15-yard scramble on third down for a 7-0 lead. "It was a lot of fun," Serra said. "First play we had dialed up to take a shot deep, and I saw it open. I saw the safety come down. I threw it and got hit. So I didn't see the play actually happen. But I heard the fans cheering, and I knew we had the ball." Mitty struck again on its next series, capitalizing on good field position to extend the lead. Serra finished off the 45-yard scoring drive with another big third-down play, throwing a 15-yard pass to Andrew Cairns in the left corner of the end zone for a 14-0 cushion. As strong as Serra and the offense started, Mitty's defense was equally impressive, sacking Bigge twice in a dominant opening quarter. Later in the half, a sack by LaBruna stalled a drive after Los Gatos had started to seize momentum. That sack led to Nikolas Eppel's 29-yard field goal in the first half's closing seconds, stretching Mitty's advantage to 17-9 at the break. Los Gatos had closed the gap, scoring a safety when a swarm of defenders tackled Mitty running back Derek Bauerle in the end zone and then a touchdown as Bigge threw a 6-yard pass to Jake Tonges. Bigge's 2-yard run early in the fourth quarter pulled Los Gatos to within 24-16. But it was all Mitty after that. Asked what he told his players after the game, Los Gatos coach Mark Krail said, "I told them we're not very good, and we played very poorly. We've got to look ourselves in the mirror, a little gut check for us, and come back ready tomorrow morning and look at film." ARCHBISHOP MITTY 45, LOS GATOS 16 Los Gatos 0 "‚9 "‚0 "‚ 7--16 Mitty 14 "‚3 "‚7 "‚21--45 AM -- Serra 15 run (Eppel kick) AM -- Cairns 15 pass from Serra (Eppel kick) LG -- Safety, Mitty runner tackled in end zone LG -- Tonges 6 pass from Bigge (Claythorn kick) AM -- Eppel 29 FG AM -- Serra 30 run (Eppel kick) LG -- Bigge 2 run (Claythorn kick) AM -- Serra 54 run (Eppel kick) AM -- Bauerle 3 run (Eppel kick) AM -- Kause 7 run (Eppel kick) Records -- Los Gatos 0-1; Archbishop Mitty 1-0. For more on high school sports, see the Varsity Extra blog at blogs.mercurynews.com/highschools. Follow Darren Sabedra on Twitter at twitter.com/DarrenSabedra. |