By Steve Brand
CARSON—It took Oceanside High a quarter to unravel the mystery of the Bellarmine Prep (San Jose) offense but once the Pirates did, they were able to stymie the Bells down the stretch and record a 24-19 victory in the Division I State Bowl Championship Friday night at the Home Depot Center.
Earlier in the day, Modesto Christian stopped Francis Parker from the 2-yard line in the game’s final two minutes to escape with a 44-40 triumph in the Small School championship.
For Oceanside, it was the second Bowl title in three years, the first coming in Division II in 2007 when the Pirates were the first San Diego Section team to capture one of the prestigious games matching the top teams based on enrollment from Northern California and Southern California.
“We didn’t want to be the one to end the dynasty,” said Oregon State University-bound lineman Thomas Molesi, who was injured in the first quarter but returned to be part of the offense that posted 14 fourth quarter points and then stopped Bellarmine Prep’s final, desperation drive.
Molesi was referring to Oceanside’s now 39-game streak without a loss (there was one tie) and the unprecedented six-straight section titles.
The 14-0 Pirates looked anything but unbeatable in the first quarter when Bellarmine rolled up and down the field with its double tight-end, double-wing offense that caused problems for Oceanside Coach John Carroll and his staff.
But after falling behind 13-3, the Pirates started figuring out how to stop the Bells. At the same time, Oceanside’s unheralded quarterback Quentis Clark was able to mix the run and the pass with more and more success until Clark found Jerry Whittaker for a 13-yard TD and then hit Rene Siluano over the middle for a 55-yard score and it was the Pirates who were in control, 24-13 midway through the final quarter.
That didn’t last long, though, as Bellarmine (11-2-1) fought back to close to 24-19 with 2:31 remaining before Oceanside made the plays it had to make on the final series to win.
For Francis Parker (11-3), it was a frustrating finish against the Northern California powerhouse after jumping out to a 10-0 lead and regaining the lead with 8:49 remaining on a 2-yard touchdown by Deon Randall.
But after the Crusaders (15-0) countered quickly with a touchdown of their own, Parker drove to the Modesto Christian 2-yard line where, on fourth down, Randall saw a blitz coming and decided to toss the ball to Dalante Dunklin on the 5, who was immediately swarmed under by the defense with 1:38 to play.
Randall would finish with 276 yards and three TDs, but Modesto Christian would counter with three 100-plus yard rushers, 456 yards on the ground and a total of 545 yards. All were Bowl records along with the 84 combined points.
Randall said he made the call at the 2-yard line and coach John Morrison supported the decision.
“I would never second guess him,” said Morrison. “I wanted him to make those decisions. If that’s what he decided, it was the right call. He’s not just a great athlete, he’s very smart—heady. I’d never question his call, never.”
Posted on December 19, 2009 by Christian Deleon
