St. Francis vs. Menlo-Atherton: A CCS semifinal matchup between former Pop Warner teammates
A friendship rooted in middle school will manifest into bragging rights Friday night in Mountain View.
When top-seeded St. Francis plays host to No. 5 seed Menlo-Atherton in a Central Coast Section Division I semifinal, it’ll be a reunion for nearly a dozen members of the 2017 M-A Vikings who qualified for the Pop Warner Super Bowl in Florida.
“It was just one of those magical Pop Warner seasons,” said Scott Evars, the team’s defensive coordinator whose son, Tyler, is now a senior at St. Francis. “That was such a special group and they are super tight. When they see each other, they’re immediate friends again. We’re all really close, including the parents.
“It’s actually amazing that they’re going to be on the field at the same time.”
He added: “Football is all about the community and you don’t realize it until you get in and how great it is for your whole family.”
The talent pool for the M-A Vikings spread across divergent socio-economic spectrums such as Menlo Park, Atherton, East Palo Alto, Redwood City, Portola Valley, Woodside and Redwood City.
The St. Francis quintet is comprised of Evars, plus running back Viliami “Juju” Teu – who broke the school record for most rushing yards in a game with 344 against Serra on Nov. 6 – safety Nicolas Andrighetto, lineman Alex Bobadilla and linebacker Peyton Warford.
The six players for M-A include wide receiver/cornerback Jalen Moss – a Fresno State commit with 53 catches for 1,030 yards and 14 TDs, plus six interceptions – quarterback Matt MacLeod (34 touchdowns, 3 interceptions), safety Joseph Flood, linebacker Andrew Buck, defensive end Rory Ferrick and tight end Ben Miller.
Domenic Andrighetto, the M-A Vikings head coach at the time, not only recruited Evars onto his staff, but many of the players/parents who “had the time of our lives going into Florida,” Teu said.
“It definitely starts from the coaching staff,” Teu continued. “I just thank Coach Evars, and Coach Dom is like another father to me. … To build a great team, everyone has to get along. And to come from different backgrounds, it was great to see us get together.”
St. Francis and M-A have only played twice previously, most recently 28 years ago.
No wonder the former members of the M-A Vikings are so eager to play each other for the first time after parting ways.
“Since then we’ve just kind of trash-talked, ‘Oh, you don’t want to play us when we’re at M-A,’” joked MacLeod, who nearly threw for 400 yards in last week’s 35-31 triumph at No. 4 Salinas to cross the 3,000-yard barrier. “Finally, our senior year, we get that opportunity to play each other. It’s going to be so much fun, those guys are my dawgs since Day 1, almost.”
M-A rides a nine-game win streak, while St. Francis holds the distinction of being the only NorCal team from this region to beat De La Salle in the past 30 years.
After the game, expect the M-A Vikings family to reminisce about 2017.
Just understand that’s not going to be the case when the whistle blows at game time.
“I was on the phone with Nico the other day and he was like, ‘Dude, the photo after the game is going to be so sick,’” MacLeod said. “I was like, ‘Bruh, it’s going to be such a throwback.’ It’s one of those things that during the game I’ve got to kind of just block it out. They’re still your boys, but you just can’t play with any emotion, you know?”
Teu completely agrees.
“Those guys I’ll forever be on their side, no matter what,” he said. “But when that clock starts, there’s no friends on that field. [As Teu bursts into laughter.] It was good times, but we’re all onto the next.”
In the case of the parents, expect a few tears.
“I’m looking forward to hugging all of them, the winners and the losers,” said Evars, who stays up until 1 a.m. to watch M-A games on NFHS Network and considers Moss a second son. “Because I’m just so proud of them – forever.”