Gators complete unlikely run with a state football title

The unlikely run is complete.

With a 16-0 win Saturday over Righetti of Santa Maria, the Sacred Heart Prep football team finished the season above .500 at 8-7, on a five-game winning streak, and, oh yeah, that’s right, as Division 5-A state champions.

A bit much to absorb on one take, but judging by the giddy postgame celebration, the SHP players had no trouble digesting it all.

The Gators were 3-7 at the conclusion of their regular-season schedule.

“If you told me then we’d be here now, I would’ve said you were crazy,” said SHP center and linebacker John Adrian Dioli. “But here we are. I knew we had it in us.”

Six of SHP’s seven losses were by eight points or less. Many players wondered when the breaks would start to go their way. The answer turned out to be in the postseason, where the Gators went 5-0 and were so dominant they didn’t have to win any close games. They outscored their five postseason opponents by a combined 171-42.

Three of the five postseason wins were by shutout, including the last two — the NorCal and state championship games.

“It comes from great weeks of practice,” Dioli said. “We watched film late at night and early in the morning.”

In both of the shutouts the last two weeks the SHP defense gave up yardage in the middle of the field, but came up with stops in the red zone. Fourth-and-goal plays from the 1 were turned back by the SHP defense in both contests.

“They were physical, disciplined and relentless.” SHP head coach Mark Grieb said of his team’s defense.

“They played with intensity,” defensive coordinator Ed Larios said. “They know their jobs, play hard every play and rise to the occasion when we need it most.”

The Gators’ offense helped out by putting together time-consuming drives that kept the defensive unit off the field for long stretches. The 4-yard rush has always been the team’s signature play.

“We executed well, our blocking was great, our offensive line did a great job controlling the game,” Grieb said. “It was all about moving the chains and getting first downs.”

On their first possession of the game SHP took over at the Righetti 42 after a defensive stand and a short punt. They ran 12 plays in a methodical march for a touchdown, a 2-yard run by sophomore Anthony Noto.

Righetti responded by putting together a long drive of its own, a 14-play drive that needed to go 78 yards for a touchdown, but only went 77 yards.

The Gators took over on their 1 after the fourth-down stop and drove all the way to the Righetti 1, where a third-down play lost a yard. On fourth down from the 2 Sean Tinsley kicked a 19-yard field goal to make the score 10-0 at the half.

“We have to pound the ball,” SHP quarterback Jack Herrell said. “That’s what our brand is. And when we do that it opens up things in our passing game.”

Herrell completed 8 of 12 passes for 138 yards to go along with the team’s 150 yards accumulated over 46 carries on the ground.

Sacred Heart Prep only had the ball twice in the first half, but scored on each possession.

In the second half two Righetti possessions ended on fumble recoveries by the SHP defense, one by freshman Aseli Fangupo and the other by junior Andrew Rocha. A third Righetti possession concluded on an interception by John Chung.

After the Rocha fumble recovery, SHP went 87 yards in 12 plays with Luis Mendoza scoring from the 1. The big play on the drive was a 46-yard pass from Herrell to Jake York.

So now it’s over and the 2021 team went where the great teams from 2013 through 2015 were unable to reach. The teams from those three years went a combined 37-6, won three CCS championships and two NorCal titles, but lost in two state championship games that were played in Southern California.

(The 2014 team, which went 13-0, beating Bellarmine 14-0 for the CCS Open Division title, didn’t even get invited to play in the state championships due to the format in place at the time)

The 2021 team made the most of its opportunity.

“It’s great to be the first and to put your school on the map,” Grieb said.

Cover photo by Bob Dahlberg.

Cover photo by Bob Dahlberg.

Cover photo by Bob Dahlberg.

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