Serra seizes control in second half, rolls past Mitty to reach CCS Open Division final

SAN MATEO — Saturday’s Central Coast Section Open/Division I first-round game between Serra and Archbishop Mitty unfolded like the chess match that both teams expected it to be. 

From funky formations to trick plays, the game turned out to be the deliberate and calculated matchup that only a pair of West Catholic Athletic League foes can provide in a postseason matchup. 

For a while, every move had an answer. But once Serra dictated the tempo and forced Mitty out of its comfort zone, the momentum shifted in favor of the home team as the Padres used a series of well-timed offensive strikes and defensive stands to pull away with a 29-13 win. 

“Every time we play Mitty, it’s scary,” Serra coach Patrick Walsh said. “It’s never easy and always difficult. I thought we ran the ball extremely well today. We had some opportunities to extend the score earlier in the game, but they came up with big plays in the third quarter. Overall, … it’s been a great year and now we get another opportunity to play another playoff game in the CCS Open championship.”

The victory sends Serra into next week’s Open Division championship, where an emotional rematch with Archbishop Riordan awaits. Just last week, the Crusaders defeated Serra 42-35 in San Mateo in the regular season finale to capture the WCAL championship on the Padres’ senior night. 

“We really felt like after last week’s loss that we just had to put our heads down and keep working,” Serra senior running back Iziah Singleton, who rushed for 110 yards on 16 carries, said. “I feel like we had to do that for this game.”

Despite going down nine points by the halftime break, Mitty opened the third quarter looking poised to get back in the game, even though the San Jose school was without dynamic running back Lazaro Faraj-Washington, who left the game and never returned with an ankle injury in the second period. 

Serra started the second half with the ball and marched into the red zone in six plays. But just as it looked like the Padres were going to build onto their lead, senior Kai Sniffen picked off a pass in the end zone to give the Monarchs the ball early in the third quarter. 

Mitty marched down the field, using a few big plays to get deep into Serra territory. But another crushing injury occurred when senior offensive lineman Jack Dumesnil had to be carted off into an ambulance with a gruesome lower leg injury. 

The injury caused the game to be momentarily paused for about 15 minutes, and the Monarchs couldn’t recapture the momentum.

A few plays later, Serra cornerback Aidan Labrador picked off a Mitty pass and the floodgates opened from there. 

On the ensuing possession Serra kicker Saul Marks knocked in a 53-yard field goal to put the Padres up 19-7. Later in the quarter, Marks hit another, this time from 42 yards to extend Serra’s lead to two scores. 

From there, Serra ran Mitty into submission with big chunk runs from Singleton and Andrew Takapautolo, who finished with a game-high 126 yards and a rushing touchdown. 

Takapautolo’s 35-yard rushing score late in the fourth quarter all but put the game away for the San Mateo school even as Mitty scored on a late 82-yard touchdown pass from Joseph Engin to Lucca Edwards. 

“Coach Walsh always said we have to win the third quarter,” Singleton said. “His motivational speech at halftime really motivated us to come out here and the third quarter. We did that today.”

Serra finished Saturday’s game with 312 rushing yards while holding Mitty to 233 yards of total offense. The Padres’ defense forced three turnovers with Labrador and Brody Smith each intercepting a pass while Serra’s defense also recovered a Mitty fumble in the first quarter. 

Charlie Walsh had a rushing score and a receiving touchdown to cap off a solid night for the Padres. 

“I thought they just did a great job coming off of last week’s loss,” Walsh said. “I thought the seniors did a great job of reminding everyone that, you know, this could be the last game of the year. And they did a great job of making sure that didn’t happen.”

The Monarchs season ended their season with a valiant effort. Head coach Danny Sullivan said he was proud of his group, despite the injuries Mitty sustained to key players. 

“We’re a pretty feisty group,” Sullivan said. “I’m just super proud of their effort all year long and it sucks that this journey had to end.”