Cardinal Newman wins in mad finish

By Harold Abend, Special to CalHiSports.com

The first ever meeting between two Northern California Catholic small school intersectional powers turned into an affair they're going to remember in Santa Rosa and Salinas for a long time.

However, it will be for very different reasons.

In a wild finish, and on the game's final play, host Cardinal Newman (Santa Rosa) quarterback Randy Wright scrambled to his left, avoided three tacklers, and found Jack James in the back of the end zone for a 13-yard touchdown to complete an amazing 34-33 comeback victory over Palma of Salinas.

The game winning drive was orchestrated by the 6-2, 195-pound senior who is garnering looks from several schools, including Texas-El Paso, where his brother Kyle is currently the quarterback.

When Palma's Nevada-bound quarterback David Fales (17-for-20, 217 yards, one TD) found Bret Chernetsky for a 16-yard touchdown with 2:15 remaining, putting Palma up 33-28, it looked like Newman was finished.

Not to be outdone, Wright did a Joe Montana-like routine, running a two-minute drill with perfection.

Newman (3-0) got the ball on the ensuing kickoff with 2:02 remaining, no timeouts left, and 72-yards away from pay dirt.

First Wright found Wade Amaral for a 13-yard completion.

Then Jeff Badger, who rushed for three touchdowns and 140-yards, had a 12-yard run.

After a five-yard penalty, Wright connected with Casey Miller for six yards before overthrowing a wide open Amaral.

Badger, who also had 11 tackles from his middle linebacker position, followed with another 12-yard run.

Then with the clock running and under 45-seconds left, Wright found Miller again for 17-yards, with the wide receiver getting out of bounds to stop the clock at the Palma 21-yard line.

Next, Wright hit Amaral in the hands in the end zone but it was broken up by a Palma defender.

Cardinal head coach Paul Cronin then gambled with a draw to Badger who went eight yards to the 13, but the clock was running.

Hurrying to the line, Newman snapped it with under 15-seconds to play and Wright once again hit Amaral in the end zone but he couldn't hold on leaving 7.8 seconds in the game.

Just enough time for Wright to find James.

Wright's final passing numbers were 13-of-21 for 191 yards and one touchdown. He also rushed for 114 yards on nine carries, including a 64-yard bootleg in the first quarter for a score.

The tough loss for Palma (2-1) overshadowed a fine performance by running back Justin Olivarria. The 5-9, 175-pound junior had a huge game, rushing for 180 yards and two touchdowns, and catching five passes for 92 yards.

With the two teams coming in to the showdown as the No. 1 and No. 2 ranked teams in the ESPN RISE CalHiSports.com Div. III State Bowl Game Rankings, Newman not only retains the top spot, but is now in the catbird seat and controls its own destiny entering North Bay League play.

Tigers win battle over Bears

By Mark Tennis, Executive Editor

If there were any doubters about Edison of Fresno being one of the state's top football teams this season, they were erased Friday night at Chukschansi Park as the Tigers quieted any critics with a dominating 43-14 win over the number 19 ranked in the state Merced Bears.

A week two win by just 8-6 over Dominguez of Compton would be the primary reason anyone thought that Edison might not be as good as advertised prior to the season, but as head coach Tim McDonald pointed out after the win over Merced, that was a game in which his squad overcame five turnovers.

"Anytime you win against a team like Dominguez no matter what the score with five turnovers is a positive," he said. "Our guys were pumped up tonight. I still think their best is yet to come."

Led by junior QB Max Schuh, the Tigers got rolling on their second possesion of the game with an 80-yard scoring drive. They ended up scoring the next two times they got the ball, led 22-0 at halftime and it was 36-0 in the third quarter before Merced finally broke through.

Schuh tossed three touchdown passes while taking care of the football and All-American corner Cliff Harris added six points on a 50-yard interception return. Two of Schuh's three touchdown passes went to All-American wideout Rolando Jefferson from 34 and 4 yards out with the other touchdown going to Tim McDonald Jr.

"He's coming along great," McDonald said of his young quarterback, which was the team's biggest question mark coming into the season due to the graduation of three-year starter Jerry Davis. "We are giving him a lot of heavy responsibility in this offense. He did a good job of seeing what defense they were in and throwing to the right guy."

Marquise Cooper also had a huge game for Edison. He finished with eight carries for 131 yards, including an 81-yard score, and caught two passes for 58 more yards.

The Bears scored twice in the final nine minutes of the game after being held off the scoreboard with the starters in the game for both teams.

The Bears were coming into the game with a high octane offense that scored 61 points in a season-opening win over Madera and then picked up a 31-17 road win against the defending Sac-Joaquin Section Divison I champions from Napa but their momentum was stopped dead in its tracks in Fresno.

"It's not so much that they are physical but it is their speed," said Merced head coach Rob Scheidt. "Just simulating in practice what they do and how they play is so difficult. We have some young guys at some positions and hopefully they grew up tonight."

Edison should more than likely find itself climbing up the rankings even further in the next two weeks. The No. 5 ranked team in the state, Crespi of Encino, was defeated 31-14 by No. 7 St. Bonaventure of Ventura and in two weeks St. Bonaventure plays No. 2 Long Beach Poly.

Comments or corrections? Email mark@studentsports.com