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A season of domination by St. Francis came to an end Friday in a 16-12 loss to Serra in the Central Coast Section Division I championship game at Westmont High.
An 11-game winning streak came to an end. But those 11 games were book-ended by a season opener cancelled due to unhealthy air and a section championship game loss in which the final two minutes and 18 seconds were delayed over a half hour after gunshots were reported in the parking lot.
According to San Jose police, two people were wounded in the shooting, both adult men expected to survive.
Serra had just scored on a 3-yard run by quarterback Dominique Lampkin to erase a 12-10 St. Francis lead. Just prior to the two-point conversion attempt the gunshots were heard by some in the stadium.
After the failed conversion attempt the teams were informed of what had occurred, leading to the bizarre sight of the entire St. Francis team lying flat on the ground and the Serra team, after a few moments hesitation, sprinting to the fence beyond the end zone nearest to the parking lot, before returning to their sideline.
CCS officials informed both teams that play would not resume until police gave the all clear.
“After COVID and everything this was just one more thing,” St. Francis coach Greg Calcagno said. “People didn’t panic. It could’ve been a real disaster.”
Upon the resumption of play, St. Francis took over on its own 29 and picked up two first downs before a sack and three incomplete passes turned the ball over to the Padres and ended the Lancers’ season.
Three weeks ago the same two teams played for the West Catholic Athletic League title with quite a different outcome. In that game St. Francis running back Viliami (JuJu) Teu rushed for a school-record 344 yards.
“That was a public humiliation,” Serra coach Patrick Walsh said.
This time the Padres limited Teu to 72 yards on 21 carries.
“They put more guys in the box,” Calcagno said. “They tackled well and didn’t give JuJu any room to move.”
“We gave them a couple looks they weren’t used to,” Walsh said. “We rotated a lot of people.”
Total yardage for both teams was very close, 195 yards for Serra, 193 for St. Francis, and decidedly modest in a season in which robust offensive production was more the norm.
Serra was the first team to score in the game when Leonardo Galindo kicked a 49-yard field goal at the start of the second quarter.
St. Francis got on the scoreboard right before halftime when Camilo Arquette scored on a 5-yard run to cap a 65-yard, 15-play drive. The PAT failed and the Lancers had a 6-3 lead at halftime.
The Padres put their own 64-yard touchdown drive together after receiving the second half kickoff, and took the lead when Lampkin hit Sione Laulea on a 21-yard touchdown pass.
At the start of the fourth quarter Serra was forced to punt out of its end zone and the Lancers took over at the 46. Five plays later quarterback Josh Perry faked a handoff into the line and ran untouched 31 yards on a bootleg to give St. Francis a 12-10 lead, Again, the extra-point attempt failed, leaving the Lancers with a precarious two-point lead.
Serra needed to respond and did so with a 72-yard drive to take the lead, and then got the clinching defensive stop after the delay.
So the Padres go on to a bowl game and the Lancers season is over after their fourth straight loss in a CCS championship game.
“Everything we did was great except we didn’t get the win,” Calcagno said. “This was a great group of kids. I looked forward to going to work every day. That’s my biggest disappointment.”
