| | Published December 4th, 2013
| Miramonte Football Marches On!
Mats in NCS final; Cougars beat Dons in quarterfinals, lose in semifinals
| | By Michael Sakoda |  | | Ray Clark and Drew Anderson Photos Gint Federas
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At the No. 3 seed, Miramonte (11- 2) surprised Clayton Valley Charter in the semi-finals of the NCS playoffs last week. The Mats upset the defending champion 44-38 to advance to the NCS Division II title game. The Mats will take on No. 1 Casa Grande at 7 p.m. this Saturday, Dec. 7 at Rancho Cotate High School in Rohnert Park.
Clayton Valley had just one game plan-run the ball-and for much of the game, they did it successfully. The Eagles attempted just two passes-one from their quarterback, one from their running back.
The Mats' defense struggled to stop Miles Harrison, the junior standout who rushed 33 times for 237 yards, three touchdowns and three two-point conversions. But late in the third quarter, with Miramonte leading 29-22, the Eagles went for it on a fourth-and-six from the Miramonte 26 yard-line, and Harrison was brought down after only two yards by a battalion of Mats defenders.
Miramonte then went 76 yards downfield and quarterback Drew Anderson (27/38 339 yards, 3 TD, 1 rushing TD), capped the drive with a 10-yard touchdown pass to his younger brother, Ryan (his second of the night).
In the fourth quarter, Clayton Valley, on fourth-and-14 from the Mats 22, found the end zone on a flea flicker from Harrison to quarterback Gabe Taylor, their only completed pass on the night. After the 2-point conversion, Miramonte still led 36-30.
The Mats would score again, getting a rushing touchdown from Ray Clark, after driving 67 yards downfield, but Clayton Valley's Xavier Crawford returned the subsequent kick 92 yards for a touchdown, cutting the lead back to six, 44-38.
With 3:27 left in the game, the Mats faced a fourth-and-seven from the Eagle's 48, and head coach Jack Schram left his offense on the field. "I've got extreme confidence in our offense," he said after the game. "I knew they could get it done."
He was right. Drew Anderson completed a short pass to Dominic Paoletti, who hurdled a defender and raced to the Eagle's 33-yard line, getting the first down and sealing the game.
"They were the defending champions," Schram said. "We knew we had to go through them to have a shot at the Division II Championship, and we stepped up, and we did it."
The week before, Miramonte ousted No. 6 Northgate to get to the semi-finals. The game on Nov. 23 was an offensive clinic, with the teams combining for 1,078 yards of total offense.
Drew Anderson led his team throwing for 358 yards and six touchdowns. Ryan Anderson caught four passes for 112 yards and three touchdowns.
Crosstown rival Campolindo (11-0) had a tough time against No. 3 El Cerrito (10-2) in the NCS Division III semi-finals; the Cougars lost 49-34.
The real story of this game was El Cerrito's defense. Campolindo came into the contest averaging 35 points per game, and while they put up 34, they scored their final two touchdowns late in the fourth quarter when the game was already out of reach.
The Cougars had just eight first downs and quarterback Andrew Zolintakis (15/21 290 yards, 3 TD), who went virtually untouched against Acalanes, was sacked five times and hurried several more.
"(Nick) Fadelli had a good game the first time we played (El Cerrito)," head coach Kevin Macy said earlier in the week. "But we're going to have to count on him to do more this time."
Unfortunately, Campo's run was non-existent Friday night. Campo's backs combined for a mere 25 yards on 28 carries while El Cerrito ran the ball 37 times for 311 yards. Despite two rushing touchdowns from Isaac Christian and a receiving touchdown apiece from Tyler Petite, Preston Kilwein, and Justin Dunn, Campo just didn't have enough to move on to the NCS Championship.
"We beat them earlier in the year," Macy said. "I think they were just licking their chops...ready to get a piece of us."
The week before, Campolindo defeated No. 7 Acalanes (8-3) in the quarterfinals 38-14. The Cougars got two rushing touchdowns from Fadelli in the first quarter. But Acalanes fought back, scoring on a 9-yard rushing touchdown from Peter Mitchell to open the second quarter.
Campo's offense was explosive - Fadelli ran for 152 yards and two touchdowns; Zolintakis went 14/21 for 238 yards and two touchdowns; Christian found the end zone twice, once on a reception and once on a carry-but it was their defense that won them the game.
The Dons entered the half trailing 21-7.
In the fourth, Acalanes capped a 70-yard drive with a 57-yard touchdown pass from Harrington to Brett Merrill, but Campo added a touchdown and a 43-yard field goal from sophomore Matt Blair, earning a 38-14 victory.
"We took a big step forward...eight wins...a playoff win," said Acalanes head coach Mike Ivankovich. "You lose and it's disappointing, but we can't lose sight of what we accomplished this year...what we hope to build on next year."
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 | | Tyler Petite is stopped by El Cerrito. Petite had a touchdown in the loss.
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Lamorinda Weekly, Moraga CA