The Bay Area’s best high school football team played like it on Saturday and then some.
Serra scored 27 points in the first quarter at home in San Mateo and cruised past eighth-seeded Salinas 47-7 in the first round of the Central Coast Section Open/Division I playoffs.
The Padres advanced to play seventh-seeded Wilcox for the Open championship Friday night at San Jose City College. Wilcox stunned second-seeded St. Francis in a first-round game on Friday.
The Open champion will move on to a state game. The Open runner-up will play for the CCS Division I title and a regional spot in two weeks.
Nano Latu opened the scoring for Serra on Saturday with a 14-yard run. The two-point conversion made it 8-0.
Jaden Green’s pick-six extended the advantage to 14-0 and Green’s 3-yard run widened the margin to 20-0.
Kyon Loud’s pick-six made it 27-0.
Serra scored all 47 points in the first half as it routed Salinas for the second consecutive year in the playoffs. In the semifinals last season, Serra scored 50 points before halftime against the Cowboys and won 57-21.
If the Padres beat Wilcox, they will advance to the Open Division state championship game for the third consecutive season, presumably against Mater Dei or St. John Bosco, the teams that have routed Serra in each of the past two years.
And if Wilcox wins?
Well, the Chargers wouldn’t seem to be a candidate to play Southern California’s top team. They would most likely play in an upper-division NorCal regional.
— Darren Sabedra
Other games:
NCS Division II
No. 5 Heritage 35, Redwood-Larkspur 7
No. 5 seed Heritage scored on its first drive of the NCS Division II playoffs and never looked back as the Patriots routed host No. 4 Redwood-Larkspur for the team’s first postseason victory in six years.
Mekhi Adanandus finished off the 80-yard opening drive with a three-yard run, and Phillip Babbitt connected with JJ Kinnaird later in the quarter to give Heritage a 14-0 lead.
Adanandus made it three Heritage touchdowns in as many possessions on the next drive when he sprinted through the Redwood defense for a 60-yard touchdown. Heritage took that 21-0 lead into halftime.
Following a scoreless third quarter, Heritage made it 28-0 early in the fourth when Babbitt threw his second TD of the game, finding Brooks Davis for the six-yard touchdown.
Ilias Muhammad finished the scoring for Heritage with a one-yard TD midway through the final quarter.
Heritage (5-6) will travel to top-seeded El Cerrito with a spot in the Division III title game on the line.
– Joseph Dycus
CCS Division II
No. 6 Monterey 38, No. 3 Sacred Heart Prep 24
Sacred Heart Prep had a 24-17 lead at halftime, but was held scoreless in the second half.
Anthony Noto scored twice in the first half on runs of 2 and 1 yards to bring the Gators even both times at 7-7 and 14-14. An 18-yard scoring run by Greg Gamitian gave SHP its first lead at 21-17 and a Nathan Fox 38-yard field goal made it 24-17 at the half.
But the second half was all Monterey.
The Dores scored on a pass from Preston White to Kavon Collins and two runs by Enobong Wirth.
SHP finishes 6-5. Monterey (8-3) plays in the semifinals at Soquel.
— Glenn Reeves
NCS Division III
No. 1 Marin Catholic 35, No. 8 Bishop O’Dowd 7
The Dragons gave top-seed Marin Catholic everything it could handle in the first half of the NCS Division III playoff game. The teams entered halftime tied 7-7, a far cry from the 50-0 whooping the Wildcats put on O’Dowd during the regular season.
Marin Catholic retook the lead in the third quarter after Peter Macaulay ran for a 13-yard touchdown. Charles Williams stretched it to 21-7 on another rushing TD and then turned it into a three-possession lead by returning an interception 70 yards for the touchdown.
Bishop O’Dowd finished the season 6-5. Marin Catholic will play host to Tamalpais next week.
— Joseph Dycus
