St. Vincent de Paul beats Wasco for CIF Football State Championship: Full roundup, interview with Jack Olyphant
PASADENA, Calif. - On Friday at Pasadena City College, St. Vincent de Paul cruised past Wasco 27-6 for a CIF 6-AA State Championship – its first in school history. You can find a complete timeline of the game here.
A few days later, football season is officially behind us, the dust has settled, and the stats are officialized.
So, let's take one more thorough look at the Mustangs' state title victory – and a tough ending to what was an amazing season for Central Section champion Wasco. You can also watch a quick interview with 2-star senior defensive end Jack Olyphant (video embedded).
MUSTANGS OWN SECOND HALF, DEFENSIVE LINE OF SCRIMMAGE
At halftime, it was a 7-6 ballgame that had been dominated by defense. By that point, neither team had even sniffed 100 yards of offense.
For Wasco, the offensive struggle continued, as the Tigers went scoreless in the second half and finished with one score. St. Vincent is known for its daunting, athletic defensive line featuring three nationally-ranked prospects – a front of a caliber rarely seen north of San Francisco by teams not named Cardinal Newman or Marin Catholic. And that was a brutal matchup for a Wasco team that runs the double wing. Rob Rooks (two tackles for loss, forced fumble, blocked field goal), Nour Elbelisy, Jack Olyphant (sack), CJ Perez (sack), and Nico Antonini (team-high 10 tackles) all recorded at least one tackle for loss and helped blow up numerous other plays around the line of scrimmage.
St. Vincent got going offensively in the second half, scoring decisively on the opening drive and then holding at its goal line on 4th-and-inches. By that point, only a minute remained in the third quarter, and the Mustangs had little trouble adding two more touchdowns for insurance in the fourth.
The keys to St. Vincent's success on defense were "just staying low, doing our assignment, keeping our gaps, and playing hard smashmouth football throughout the whole game," said Olyphant.
"We knew what [to expect] and we came prepared."
TOP PERFORMERS
In addition to St. Vincent's defensive front, sophomores Gabe Casanovas and Mason Caturegli and senior Jack Davis were three of the top stars of the day.
Casanovas ran the offense crisply without putting up massive numbers, completing five of nine passes for 66 yards and two touchdowns to no interceptions, and running seven times for 59 yards and another TD.
Caturegli ran for 113 yards and caught a 21-yard touchdown, and Davis added a touchdown catch to 55 yards and a TD on seven carries.
Jude Granados scored the only touchdown of the game for Wasco, a short run in the second quarter.
A CHAMPIONSHIP – AND PARADE – FOR PETALUMA; ST. VINCENT FOOTBALL IS HERE TO STAY
With the win, St. Vincent etched itself as one of hardly any Sonoma County teams to ever win a state title in football – and the very first in Petaluma history.
So, it's time for a parade. 10 a.m. Sunday in downtown Petaluma.
The Northern end of the San Francisco Bay Area – but two counties and nearly 40 miles away from the city itself – Sonoma County has a population a little under 500,000. And the area is remote enough to where it's challenging to pull talent from other ones. St. Vincent's enrollment is roughly one tenth the size of that Wasco's, which is also comparable to the size of Sonoma County's largest public schools – most of which St. Vincent has long surpassed on the football field. But the Mustangs look poised to continue emerging as the county's next standout program.
Almost certainly, Cardinal Newman's stranglehold on the talent from most of Santa Rosa and the rest of northern Sonoma County isn't going anywhere any time soon. However, that leaves a lot of the rest of the county – and perhaps the southern bounds of Marin County – as areas where St. Vincent could plausibly increase its pull significantly in coming years to bolster its football depth. Much of this state title team consisted of sophomore and juniors, including Casanovas, Caturegli, Rooks, defensive backs Malcolm Rooks and Tye Nickens, and linebacker Joseph Edwards. The program's best is likely yet to come.
For now, St. Vincent isn't concerned with numbers if they aren't on the scoreboard.
"It just goes to show that numbers don't mean much," said Olyphant. "It's just our level versus their level. We come from a school of 160 kids or something like that. It's just amazing what we can do."
"I just got no words," Olyphant finished. "It's great to leave on a win baby."
– Lance Smith | lance@scorebooklive.com | @sbliveca
