CIF-North Coast Section photos/gamer: Campolindo downs Acalanes 27-24 in battle of unbeatens

Dashiel Weaver accounts for all four Campolindo touchdowns, James Giordani intercepts pass late to preserve wild win in Moraga in battle of 6-0 teams

MORAGA, Calif. — No one around these parts would expect anything less.

Host Campolindo-Moraga and Acalanes-Lafayette, a pair of arch-rival 6-0 squads separated by about 5 miles in the heart of Contra Costa County, played a humdinger of a football game Friday night that came down to the final moments.

A last-minute interception by James Giordani on an overthrown deep ball finished it off.

The Campolindo safety picked off the pass — his second of the game — to preserve the Cougars' 27-24 Diablo Athletic League Foothill Division victory in front of what was announced as a sellout crowd.

“You can see how ecstatic the kids are, and the community,” Campolindo coach Kevin Macy said afterward. “This was one of the greatest games in terms of the rivalry and packing a crowd in, the noise. And we’re small schools, so that’s a lot of people that came out.”

Campolindo quarterback Dashiell Weaver accounted for all four of the Cougars' touchdowns, three passing and one running as Campolindo improved to 7-0 and 2-0 in league play.

Weaver completed TD passes of 13 and 5 yards to fellow senior and favorite target Robbie Mascheroni, who now has 11 TD catches on the year. He also fired a 5-yard strike to Tim Daugherty that allowed Campolindo to retake the lead 20-17 late in the third quarter.

“He played phenomenal,” Mascheroni said of Weaver. “Kept his head on. Great kid. Always been there for me. Always been there for the team. I’m just really proud of him for the way he played tonight.”

Weaver completed 23 of 32 attempts for 271 yards, but also made big plays with his feet to extend drives. He rushed nine times for 49 yards. His last carry of the night was a 1-yard scoring run that put the Cougars up 27-17 with 7:54 to play.

Acalanes (6-1, 1-1 DAL) answered that score with a 10-play, 80-yard drive led by Jake Boselli, the second-half quarterback of the Dons’ two-QB system. Boselli was 6-for-6 for 76 yards on the drive, capping it with a 7-yard screen pass to Ethan Torres with 3:07 remaining. It was the second hookup of the half between Boselli and Torres after their 64-yard strike put Acalanes up 17-14 in the third quarter.

With all three timeouts remaining, the Dons chose to squib kick instead of attempting an onside kick. Campolindo was able to pick up one first down, but was forced to punt with 1:20 to play after a false start foiled its chance to go for it on 4th-and-2. Acalanes took over at its own 35, but mustered just five plays before Boselli’s deep ball sailed into the arms of Giordani for the Dons fourth turnover of the night.

“They can just strike so fast,” Macy said of Acalanes, admitting that the team really did intend to go for it on the 4th-and-2 before the penalty. “Our secondary did an incredible job. Just the one big play. We figured they were going to do that all night long, so the secondary really did an incredible job.”

Boselli finished with 186 yards passing and two TDs. Acalanes’ first-half quarterback Sully Bailey threw for 113 yards and had a 1-yard rushing touchdown.

Campolindo had seven different players catch passes, led by Mascheroni’s six grabs for 61 yards. He also had an interception on defense.

“One word: Fun,” Weaver said. “The atmosphere was awesome. You could definitely feel when the momentum changed just based on where the sound was coming from in the stands. It was just really fun.”

Chace Bryson is the managing editor at SportStars Magazine. Read more of his NorCal coverage at SportStarsMag.com

See all the photos below from SBLive photographer Dennis Lee