Eight is enough, Riordan ends Serra drought with 27-21 victory

Late first-half drive ignites second-half rally behind QB Mike Mitchell, RB Jeremiah Jones and stingy defense

Riordan junior quarterback Mike Mitchell leads the handshake line after a stirring 27-21 home win over Serra on Nov. 2 / Photo: Matt Solorio

SAN FRANCISCO — It was a statement game Saturday afternoon for an emerging Archbishop Riordan football program which had not beat Serra for almost a decade.

The Crusaders spoke more than with words while delivering an impressive 27-21 West Catholic Athletic League victory.

After losing eight straight times to the Padres, including a resounding 53-7 game in San Mateo last season, the biggest question was answered with Riordan’s defense holding Serra (averaging 34.6 points per game in league) to just three touchdowns.

• HOW TOP 15 FARED: Central Coast Section

The Crusaders, led by 6-foot, 180-pound senior running back Jeremiah Jones and 5-foot-11, 175-pound junior quarterback Mike Mitchell, were stifled on two long drives in the first half, turning the ball over on downs.

However those early struggles didn’t seem to phase either standout.

Jones finished with 15 carries and 105 yards and a touchdown, and Mitchell, a Vanderbilt commit, threw three TD passes and had some key scrambles to give the Crusaders just their fourth win in 21 tries against Serra since 2004. A late, long drive culminated with a 4-yard TD pass to sophomore Wesley Winn Jr. seemed to ignite the Crusaders.

CALIFORNIA SCORES/SCHEDULES (OCT. 31-NOV. 2)

• SAN DIEGO SECTION
• SOUTHERN SECTION
• LA CITY SECTION
• CENTRAL SECTION
• CENTRAL COAST SECTION
• SAN FRANCISCO SECTION
• OAKLAND SECTION
• NORTH COAST
• SAC-JOAQUIN SECTION
• NORTHERN

Riordan (5-4, 4-2) moved into sole possesion of third place in the rugged WCAL while Serra, the three-time defending Northern California Open Division representative, dropped to 4-5, 3-3.

To beat a program as established, determined and proud as Serra was more than gratifying for third-year Riordan head coach Adhir Ravipati, who led Menlo-Atherton to a state title in 2018.

“I’m just really proud of the kids, they did this," he said. "We got a bunch of guys going both ways, you know, they platoon, we share a lot of guys on both sides of the ball."

One of them is 6-1, 175-pound receiver and defensive back Chris Lawson, a 4-star recruit committed to Washington. He thought the difference was the team's energy.

“In the first half, we were all doing our job but the energy wasn’t there," he said. "Second half, we raised the bar and we came out and we dominated.” 

BATTLE IN THE TRENCHES

Trench warfare was the highlight of the first half, with both teams sticking to the ground for the most part. This makes sense when you look at the talent and size of both team’s offensive lines, but it was the Padre battery led by 6-6, 250-pound junior and Arizona commit Louis Akpa that drew first blood when their workhorse, Feliciano Latu took a 15-yard inside-zone run to the house, giving the Padres a 7-0 lead near the end of the first quarter.

The teams largely battled between the 20s for most of the second quarter. wo teams exchanged long drives with neither one of them able to put points on the board until late in the first half.

Mitchell scrambled for 26 and 7 yards and completed several passes in a brilliant drive capped with a short 4-yard curl rout run by Winn to tie the game at 7-7 and give Riordan some much needed momentum heading back into the locker room. 

Serra received the second half kick-off but a bad punt gave way to excellent field positioning for Riordan, who made the most of it. Once again, Mitchell used his legs to escape a broken pocket and throw for yet another touchdown, a 16-yarder to Jacob Dubriwny made it 14-7.

Mitchell's third TD pass was his most impressive, a 45-yarder to the long and fluid 6-3, 165-pound Cynai Thomas to mke it 21-7 entering the fourth quarter.

Serra quickly answered back when running back Latu took a swing pass and sprinted 80 yards for a touchdown, outrunning several Riordan defensive backs who appeared taken by surprise by Latu’s speed.

Latu spent much of the game fighting for yards in between the tackles, but his burst down the sideline cut the lead to 21-14 with 10:14 left in the game.

ANSWERING BACK

Riordan answered back with a punishing, run-heavy drive, keyed and capped by Jones, with a 21-yard TD burst, making it 27-14 with 7:26 left. Serra, a team with no quit, came right back, as senior quarterback Andrew Heneghan found tight end Clay Hinsdale with a 22-yard TD and just 5:10 remaining, making it once again a one-score game, 27-21.

Riordan got the ball back late in the fourth quarter with just a few minutes left, and did what they had been doing the entire game to seal the win, leaning heavily on their inside-zone run package. The Crusaders ran out the clock.

It was a particularly satisfying win for Ravipati, whose team has rebounded greatly since losing back-to-back games with St. Ignatius (31-28) and Valley Christian (31-13) to win three straight.

“We did some things to change how we practiced, changing up some things schematically," he said. "I love it when coaches and players come together to dig deep and fight for our season. 

Next week, Riordan hosts CCS top-ranked Saint Francis, which has already clinched the league title, while Serra hosts Valley Christian.