Prep football: Section championship preview capsules for San Marin, Marin Catholic
Only the best of the best among prep football teams get to continue their seasons past Thanksgiving. San Marin is enjoying its third consecutive season of playing at this point while Marin Catholic is playing in its sixth North Coast Section Division III title game since 2016.
Both teams will see familiar opponents this week as No. 1 San Marin takes on No. 2 Acalanes at Santa Rosa High on Friday night. The programs have met in each of the past two season openers.
No. 1 Marin Catholic faces No. 3 Cardinal Newman at San Rafael High on Saturday night. The Wildcats and Cardinals have battled over four section titles since 2017 with MC prevailing three times.
NCS D-IV Final
No. 2 Acalanes (8-4) vs. No. 1 San Marin (12-0), 7 p.m. Friday, Santa Rosa High
Although there was next to no recent history between these two programs prior to the 2022 season opener, a fierce rivalry has quickly sprung up since that meeting.
The Dons were one of only two teams – Marin Catholic being the other – to defeat San Marin last season. The Mustangs capped that campaign with NCS D-V, NorCal, and State titles and promptly got moved up to D-IV within the NCS.
San Marin and Acalanes entered this season expecting to be the two strongest programs in the division and faced off in the season opener again. The Mustangs won the battle this time around, prevailing 27-20 at home on Aug. 25 to basically secure the top seed in the division in the process.
Acalanes held a 14-3 lead early in that game before San Marin reeled off 21 consecutive points with touchdowns by WR Blake Hart, RB Jonah Lozano, and QB Dominic Ingrassia. The Mustangs also got a pair of field goals from kicker Lars Rau, which – combined with a missed extra point by Acalanes – accounted for the final margin.
Acalanes has lost three times since that game, against San Ramon Valley, Amador Valley and Campolindo – all teams that were selected for the NCS Open/D-I bracket.
Cal-bound WR Trevor Rogers remains Acalanes’ top threat offensively, with 62 catches, 1,014 yards and 14 touchdowns. Henry Souza (537 yards, 8 TDs), Niko White (625, 5) and Paul Kuhner (379, 7) complete a dangerous WR corps.
Rogers and Souza had touchdowns in the opener against San Marin, although White (6 catches, 111 yards) did the most damage. QB Sully Bailey has thrown for 2,429 yards with 30 touchdowns against seven interceptions.
The Mustangs counter with their own diverse receiving corps, led by Wesley Timmel (1,121, 17 TDs), Blake Hart (593, 11), Matt Goodin (547, 7), plus TE Anthony Scheppler (450, 3).
San Marin signal caller Ingrassia, recently named the MCAL’s offensive player of the year, has thrown for 2,917 yards with 40 touchdowns against just two interceptions. Ingrassia was 21-of-30 passing for 240 yards, two total touchdowns and one pick against Acalanes.
NCS D-III Final
No. 3 Cardinal Newman (11-1) vs. No. 1 Marin Catholic (11-1), 7 p.m. Saturday, San Rafael High
The previous four NCS D-III championships, aside from the 2018 vacated title, have been contested between Marin Catholic and Cardinal Newman. MC has won three of the four meetings, including the wild 59-56 victory in 2017 during which then-MC QB Spencer Petras threw for a school-record 502 yards.
The Cardinals gained a measure of revenge on a rain-soaked night in 2019, winning 13-10 on a field goal as time expired. MC has won the past two title games by scores of 42-7 and 48-22.
If the top priority defensively for the Cardinals is slowing down MC RB Charles Williams, the same is true for MC’s front seven – slow down RB Zachary Homan.
The senior has run for 2,340 yards and 36 touchdowns to carry the load offensively for Cardinal Newman. The Cardinals have thrown for just 1,371 yards and 18 scores this season. Homan, who is averaging 195 rushing yards per game this season, has exceeded that number considerably in both playoff games.
Homan torched American Canyon for 273 yards and five touchdowns on just 12 carries two weeks ago. Homan carried the ball 27 more times last week against No. 2 seed Las Lomas, piling up 381 and four touchdowns. The Cardinals completed three of seven passes in that game for 38 yards and one touchdown.
No team has much success running against the Wildcats all season, so something has to give. MC’s defense, despite a number of injuries, has remained stout in the postseason. The Wildcats conceded almost half of the yards they gave up last week on one play – a 90-yard touchdown from Tam QB Braden Young to WR Andrew Gordon.