San Marin shuts down Marin Catholic, breaks 15-game losing streak to Wildcats, takes final MCAL title

Tenacious defense, heady play from Dom Ingrassia lifts two-time defending state champions past hosts Wildcats in Bay Area showdown of unbeaten teams

What a start and what a finish. 

The San Marin Mustangs conquered the dragon Saturday to close out the Marin County Athletic League, one dominated on the gridiron for decades by Marin Catholic. 

A 73-yard pass from Dominic Ingrassia to Blake Hart set up the game's only touchdown — a 1-yarder on fourth down from Ingrassia to Hart with 4:42 left in the first quarter — to prove decisive in a much anticipated and defense-dominated 10-6 victory over the host Wildcats. 

The victory snapped a 15-game losing streak to Marin Catholic, which has absolutely dominated the MCAL for two decades. San Marin improved to 10-0 and 6-0 in MCAL play, while the Wildcats dropped to 9-1 and 5-1. Both advance to next week's North Coast Section playoffs and will receive a high, if not top seed. 

The MCAL's football league is folding after this season, reshaping into a four-league realignment. 

The Mustangs last beat Marin Catholic in 2006, 21-14. San Marin was very competitive the next season, losing 20-19, but from there it was all Wildcats, winning the next 14 by an average score of 37-9. The scores were much worse against the rest of the league. 

San Marin after winning the state 3-AA championship in 2021 / Photo: Greg Jungferman

But the Mustangs will be crowned the last champion and they can thank their defense for that. 

They held the Wildcats without a touchdowns, instead Marin Catholic had to settle for field goals of 26 and 27 yards in the middle two quarters after twice getting into the red zone. A 41-yard field goal with 9:36 gave the Mustangs a cushion, but Marin Catholic drove right down field and looked to go in for the go-ahead score. 

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But San Marin held strong at the 19. After a sack, delay penalty and two incompletions, a fourth-down pass felt harmlessly incomplete. 

Feeling the championship in their grasp, the Mustangs put together one of the game's few sustained drives, moving the chains four times with first downs. Marin Catholic never got the ball back, Ingrassia took the snap in victory celebration and the Mustangs did all that. 

Today marks the end of an era for MCAL Football. After MCAL started in 1923, our football league came a few years later. Today, we watch our local Mustangs take on the @FootballMCCats of Southern Marin. #marinfootball #winNCS pic.twitter.com/11qlYenxQn

— San Marin Football (@allfootballSM) November 4, 2023

 San Marin had closed the gap on Marin Catholic the last two years, losing 21-14 in 2021 and 32-15 last season. Led by coach Dominic DiMare, the Mustangs went on to win North Coast Section, regional and state championships, 32-8 over Granada Hills Charter for the 4-A title in 2022 and 20-14 over Independence for the 3-AA crown in 2021. 

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Marin Catholic won the 2021 state 4-AA crown over Central Valley Christian, 33-14, but lost in the NorCal 2-A championship to San Ramon Valley, 19-17. 

Stay tuned for more details and photo galleries later