After a surprise loss in last year’s first round of the Central Coast Section Open Division playoffs, St. Francis was determined not to see a repeat again Friday night.
The Lancers’ (9-2) defense forced two early turnovers against West Catholic Athletic League rivals Valley Christian (5-6) and got 218 yards rushing from running back Kingston Keanaaina to win 24-14 and advance to the CCS Open Division championship game against St. Ignatius.
“We’ve been hearing that St. Francis is a team that loses in the first round, Keanaaina said. “Playoffs is a whole new game, so to be able to overcome this first game really means a lot.”
St. Francis’ defense led the charge in the first quarter, starting with a 46-yard interception touchdown return from cornerback Quentin Robinson on the first defensive possession for the Lancers. A fumble recovery by St. Francis on the Valley Christian 19-yard line led to a quick touchdown run from Keanaaina, who praised the defense for getting the team going.
“Seeing them ball out on defense and getting the ball shifted the momentum for us offensively,” Keanaaina said.
Just when it seemed like St. Francis would pull away, the Lancers’ offense ground to a halt. The Warriors got going with a 71-yard drive in the second quarter that culminated with a 17-yard touchdown catch by Valley Christian’s Joseph Patterson. After the touchdown, St. Francis had a drive at the end of the second quarter and two in the third that resulted in punts, with the game in the balance at 14-7 going into the fourth quarter. St. Francis head coach Greg Calcagno credited Valley Christian for slowing down the Lancers and making it a low-scoring game focused on physicality. Valley Christian lineman Champ Taulealea, a University of Washington commit, also made it tough for the Lancers offense.
“They had a lot of guys in the box, but they were also getting pressure on our quarterback, so it’s harder for us to get much off, so we just went to what we knew, be big and strong against big and strong and see what happens,” Calcagno said.
Vulnerabilities finally appeared in the Warriors’ defense in the fourth quarter when the Lancers went on a 12-play, all-running drive that lasted nearly six minutes and led to a field goal to make it 17-7. The Warriors also helped the Lancers with an offsides penalty on fourth-and-inches on the Valley Christian 30 and a pass interference penalty to move St. Francis into the red zone.
“St. Francis is known for being a running powerhouse, so just doing what I do at practice and being able to execute in the game is really it,” Keanaaina said of the field goal drive.
After the field goal, the Lancers put the game out of reach with an interception by defensive back Sefanaia Alatini and a 75-yard touchdown run up the middle from Keanaaina two plays later to make it 24-7 with 1:55 left.
“It’s my boys up front, my brothers up front, just knowing that I got them over anything,” Keanaaina said of his fourth-quarter touchdown run. “We ran the ball a lot, we knew they were playing run first, so being able to find a gap and hit it really set the momentum up for us.”
Calcagno praised Keanaaina for working hard throughout the game to get first downs and keep the chains moving.
“He had a good game but a different good game,” Calcagno said. …”It’s not the breaking every run off 80 yards like we’ve seen him do, but he was super efficient and effective and just kept falling forward and getting us those first downs.
The Lancers play No. 1 seed St. Ignatius (9-2) Friday after the Wildcats beat Salinas 45-7. St. Francis won the regular season matchup between the pair 27-13.
