Sports

Padres Crowned Co-Champions of WCAL With Victory Over Undefeated Monarchs

Next up for the Padres is the first round of the CCS Open Division playoffs. The game will be held at Brady Family Stadium on Nov. 23 at 1 p.m.

Written by Colton Seike

On Senior Day at Brady Family Stadium, Serra High School defeated Archbishop Mitty High School of San Jose, to become co-champions of the West Catholic Athletic League (WCAL), by the score of 31-7. 

As Serra could not get anything going on their first drive on offense, an interception by senior cornerback Vince Camp put the ball back in the Padre’s hands. 

The Padre run-heavy offense was not clicking in the beginning of the first quarter, so head coach Patrick Walsh turned to senior quarterback Matthew Fa’aita to start passing the ball.

On his first attempt of the day, Fa’aita completed a 17-yard passing touchdown to senior wide receiver Hamilton Anoa’i, making it 7-0 Padres with 6:42 to go in the quarter. 

Serra’s passing game kept moving forward late in the first quarter. On a crucial fourth down, the Padre offense decided to go for it and succeeded in high fashion.

Fa’aita scrambled to the left and, again, passed to Anoa’i for 24-yards and another Padre touchdown. Serra led by 14 with 1:19 to go in the first quarter. 

Unfortunately, Serra’s stellar defense gave up a late first quarter touchdown pass to the Monarchs and went into the second quarter up 14-7. 

As Anoa’i was certainly successful on offense, he was sure making an impact on the defensive side of the ball with an interception with 7:08 to go in the quarter.

The Padre running game finally found some holes in the Monarch defense and scored late in the second quarter on a 5-yard run by senior running back Kevin McGee. Serra went into halftime leading 21-7 over the Monarchs.

Coming out for the second half, head coach Patrick Walsh continued to preach defense and pressuring the Monarch quarterback. Early in the third quarter, Serra’s defensive line, led by senior Daniel Lavulo, pressured the quarterback and resulted in an interception by senior safety Kavapele Maka. 

With the interception in Monarch territory, Serra moved down the field but could not reach the end zone. Ultimately, the Padres kicked a 25-yard field goal by senior kicker Steven Bodley to make the score 24-7. 

Going into the fourth quarter, Serra had a significant lead and sealed the rest of the game with an insurance touchdown. For a third time on the day, Fa’aita reached Anoa’i for a 69-yard touchdown to make it 31-7 and a WCAL championship for the Padres.

The Serra offense was lead by quarterback Fa’aita, 8-11 for 138 yards, and wide receiver Anoa’i, four receptions for 97 yards and three touchdowns. 

“(Today) was one of our better games, everybody played as a team,” said Fa’aita. “Everyone was doing their job, we just trusted the system and that’s what got us this win.”

Fa’aita also addressed how Serra needs to continue to keep improving and moving into the Central Coast Section (CCS) championships as a better and stronger team.

Fa’aita and Anoa’i were often on the same page and were very successful in the passing game. 

“A lot of the plays were just open and he (Fa’aita) made the right read,” said Anoa’i. “It is just one of those things that clicked today.”

Serra played flawlessly on all accounts. The offense succeeded without any turnovers and the defense forced three turnovers to the Monarch offense.

“This was our best performance of the year against a very good team,” said head coach Patrick Walsh. “We were very prepared. I thought our coordinators did a great job to focus on the little things to win a championship here at Serra.” 

Next up for the Padres is the first round of the CCS Open Division playoffs. The game will be held at Brady Family Stadium on Nov. 23 at 1 p.m.


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