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Going into the game people debated, who is No. 1? Is it St. Francis, or is it Serra? Both teams were 8-0 with a trail of annihilated opponents left behind.
The Lancers left no doubt Saturday, powering past the Padres for a 44-21 victory in front of a sellout, standing-room only crowd at Serra.
The game plan was to give Serra a heavy dose of Viliami (JuJu) Teu, and boy did that strategy work. Teu carried 45 times for 344 yards and two touchdowns.
“I knew we were going to win,” Teu said. “It was meant to end like this. But we’re going to play them again in a couple weeks, so we’ve got to keep our head down and stay humble.”
Teu set a West Catholic Athletic League record for most carries in a game, eclipsing the previous mark of 43 by Mitty’s Paul Jones, which has stood since 1974. He set a school record for most yards gained in a game, breaking Lutoviko Ahoia’s previous mark of 333, and with 1,499 yards on the season, broke the WCAL season rushing record of 1,359, set by Serra’s Erich Wilson in 2011.
Karic on 42 yard FG SF 37 Serra 21 with 1051 in 4th pic.twitter.com/OZRLkZu0ns
— Saint Francis HS (@sfhsathletics) November 6, 2021
Matthew Karic kicked three field goals, including this one early in the fourth quarter.
St. Francis (9-0, 7-0) never trailed. The first of three Matthew Karic field goals initiated the scoring and Teu’s 33-yard touchdown run made it 10-0 at the end of the first quarter.
Serra (8-1, 6-1) tried to counter with pronounced usage of its own running back, Petelo Gi, who like Teu wears uniform No. 4. Gi carried 20 times for 101 yards, but the Padres got on the scoreboard in the second quarter through the air, on two touchdown passes from Dominique Lampkin to Seamus Gilmartin.
But in between the Serra scores, Camilo Arquette scored on a 1-yard run for St. Francis, a touchdown that was set up by Teu’s 52-yard run. And then two plays after the second Serra touchdown, St. Francis quarterback Josh Perry connected with Andrew Adkison on a 56-yard touchdown pass.
A 22-yard Karic field goal on the last play of the second quarter gave the Lancers a 27-14 lead at halftime.
Serra took the second-half kickoff and went on a determined drive that ended on Gi’s 2-yard TD run. That made it 27-21 with the Padres definitely in the game.
But St. Francis didn’t allow it to remain a one-score game for long, going 77 yards in eight plays. The first seven plays of the drive were runs, six by Teu and one by Arquette. On the eighth play Perry faked the handoff and hit Adkison beyond the packed-in Serra defense for a 43-yard touchdown.
Perry finished 5 of 9 for 143 yards. Adkison had three catches for 112 yards.
Serra went three and out, and St. Francis, which was never forced to punt, drove for a 42-yard field goal on the first play of the fourth quarter to extend the lead to 37-21.
The Padres moved the ball to the St. Francis 11 before turning it over on downs, and the Lancers put the game away for good with an 89-yard, 15-play touchdown drive — all on the ground. Teu carried on 14 of those 15 plays and scored on a 6-yard run, running over a Serra defender at the goal line.
His reaction?
“It was a blessing to see my offensive line happy,” Teu said. “I love it when they’re happier than me.
“Practicing with them every day, in class and out of class, builds a bond.”
No need for a lot of deception, the Lancers played power football all game long Saturday, just like they have all season, against all comers.
“We take a lot of pride in what we do,” St. Francis coach Greg Calcagno said. “Not many high school teams play with 21 personnel, two running backs and a tight end, like we do. I think that gives us an advantage.”
Now the second season begins. St. Francis will receive the No. 1 seed at Sunday’s Central Coast Section seeding meeting.
“Back to work Monday,” Teu said. “We’re just getting started. I can’t wait.”
It’s been a season for the ages for the Lancers. So far. It started with the first game being canceled due to poor air quality. Then in the second game they played they pulled off the historic upset over De La Salle. They rolled through WCAL play, never winning by fewer than 14 points.
“It’s been great,” Calcagno said. “But to be honest I can’t enjoy it. We’ve got a game next week and if we lose it we finish 9-1.”
