When Patrick Walsh was hired to resurrect a moribund Serra football program in 2001, he was quoted as saying the Padres were "a sleeping giant." It didn't take long for Walsh to validate that view. Serra tied for the WCAL championship in 2002, the school's first share of the league crown since 1972. The Padres have continued to build on those early years of the Walsh regime. Today, they sit as NorCal's top program. They've been in that position for three years running, defeating 24 of their last 25 WCAL opponents (including playoffs and the shortened 2021 spring season) as the week began. Serra, since its initial varsity football season in 1946, has never seen such a consistent display of excellence. That includes the 1967-69 run that was led by players like Jesse Freitas, Tom Scott, Lynn Swann, Tom Caselli, Pat McGlennon and others. What Serra students, staff and alumni are watching now is historic. It's "Peak Padres." The current defensive group is the finest ever at the school. The best example: A 28-0 rout of De La Salle. Any debate on the question has been decided. The starting QB, Maealiuaki Smith, is Serra's best pro-style, pocket passer since Tom Brady, and before him, Jesse Freitas, a national passing leader at San Diego State and a backup to Dan Fouts with the NFL's San Diego Chargers. High praise indeed. This is the Serra program's apex. The 2023 season is far from over. A lot can happen between now and the close of the campaign in December. Riordan (in particular) and others lurk.
Peak Padres
- Thread starter colhenrylives
- Start date
Serra's football team, under the leadership of Walsh, has achieved impressive success and deserves all the recognition they are receiving. With their growing dominance in NorCal, I am curious if there are any plans to add more exciting matchups to their preseason schedule. Perhaps they could face off against SoCal or out-of-state powerhouses to see how they measure up against teams from different regions.
In light of the team's improvement, (should they make it to the Open), do you think they are primed for a better showing against MD/SJB this year?
In light of the team's improvement, (should they make it to the Open), do you think they are primed for a better showing against MD/SJB this year?
Serra’s biggest problem with being Competitive in The Open is that they do not believe they can win and this is Walsh’s fault….
Eventhough DLS was overmatched paper, they always believed they could play the perfect game and beat MD or SJB…. In 2018 had #11 not been injured in practice, they just may have done so….. In 2019 DLS was about to make it a 1 score game against SJB before a fumble on the 1 yard line going into score….
Both those years DLS played Great OOS opponents, BG in 2018 and STA in 2019, they beat BG and should have beat STA but the QB could not hit any open receivers….
If Serra is serious about being competitive and changing their mindset, they should start by scheduling BG or Cen10 or some other OOS power…. Until they change their mindset and get ready for that level of play, they will continue to be non competitive and disappointing in The open….
What would you consider a better showing this year provided 2 years ago it was 44-7 and last year 45-0. Maybe a 42-21 game? Its crazy because everywhere you look on Serra's roster you can say, thats a D1 player. Even the darn kicker is blasting 50 yard FGs as if they even needed that bonus. And to make it to the last game only to see what they are going up against is .... ..... i cant even describe it other than shrug my shoulders.
I agree with you to some degree. However, to assign blame is a slippery slope. It is incredibly difficult to overcome an entrenched belief system even when you desperately want to act a different way. And I doubt you can credit Walsh with a failure at this point alone. There is so many moving parts in the team psyche.
Looking at the history of Serra and Walsh, you can see when Serra, as a team, began to believe they could win CCS championship games. Now it is commonplace and their opponents have to deal with their own failure fears when facing Serra.
It takes a special mindset to create a David vs Goliath victory. But given the reality of the situation, David might not have been the victor if the first shot had failed.
All of this discussion is moot for the Padres because next year Walsh & Company will have a major rebuilding project in front of them. They will most likely start a bunch of C/O 2027 players, including Walsh junior. From this point on, the title for the WCAL will be the Crusader's to claim. The NorCal open representative starting next year will likely be Folsom and maybe the Crusader's depending on their form.
Serra offense is mediocre at best. You aren’t beating anybody down south if you can’t score. I just don’t see a competitive game. 45-14? You can bully Folsom up north and run down their throat but not happening against south.
Interesting take! Scheduling BG or Cen10 would be a great test! These games would definitely be exciting on paper!
I would like to see a competitive game. Where the offense is able to move the chains/put points on the board and the defense is able to be physical, swarm around the field, cause havoc, get stops and make plays.
Serra would likely be a state champ team in 45 out of 50 states? Calif, GA, Texas, Florida , and NV with Gorman excluded. Unfortunately they are in Calif and probably 4th-5th best in this state.
The reason I put it on Walsh is the fact that he came from DLS…. And the Question is, are they trying to challenge themselves to be the best or are they not…. And it doesn’t look like he is….
It’s one thing to play Folsom and DLS when their programs are down and don’t have the talent they used to…. And in reality he has beat Folsom by 1 score twice and the DLS game this year was 8-0 going into the 4th and this is one of the weakest DLS teams in memory….
I am not saying that Coach Walsh is not an incredible mentor of young men and a great Football coach…. But when it comes to challenging his players to be the best they can be and prepare them for The Open, it’s just not there….
Serra has also benefited from a St Francis 3 point win over DLS and no open play in game….
What other team that lost a game to a Nor Cal team has ever been selected to play in The Open?…. Serra got selected for the open even after getting boat-raced at home by a Nor Cal team and has put up no fight whatsoever in the Open game…
The Coach has to take responsibility for not preparing his team…. If that means losing an OOS game against a Top Level Nationally ranked opponent then so be it….
And who’s to say if Folsom or DLS played Serra again that they wouldn’t win…. Remember when Serra lost by 3TD’s To St Francis and won 17-14 the second time?…. Or how about DLS beating Folsom like 30-3 or something then losing the rematch by 1 score…..
Serra loses bad in the open because their coach doesn’t believe they can play with the top teams in the country and doesn’t challenge them to do so…. They have no idea what that speed and physical play will look like when they get to The Open…. That is on the Coach…..
It’s been a steady build for Serra over the past 20+ years. Serra used to go 5-5 or worse in the 70s, 80s, and 90s (15-35 in the WCAL in the 90s). Now they are No. 1 in NorCal. I would expect the steady build to continue.
The SoCal powers are much more talented at the skill positions. I think Serra’s line matched up pretty well against MD in ‘21, but the skill positions hurt them (especially without Mahasin).
Do people really think that Serra can wish its way to victories against these stacked units with 45 D1 guys? Serra did pull off a big upset against Cajon several years ago, but MD and Bosco are annually the best programs in the nation.
The SoCal powers are much more talented at the skill positions. I think Serra’s line matched up pretty well against MD in ‘21, but the skill positions hurt them (especially without Mahasin).
Do people really think that Serra can wish its way to victories against these stacked units with 45 D1 guys? Serra did pull off a big upset against Cajon several years ago, but MD and Bosco are annually the best programs in the nation.
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I think this Serra team has the build to make it more interesting. A lot of speed on defense, an offense that can run and pass and a legit senior D1 prospect at quarterback.
I think for any NorCal team in Open, playing into the second half against a Mater Dei/Bosco is a realistic goal. The past few have been over by the first quarter.
I think for any NorCal team in Open, playing into the second half against a Mater Dei/Bosco is a realistic goal. The past few have been over by the first quarter.
View: https://x.com/MaxPreps/status/1711827287669362694?s=20
2-3 teams in the country can play with these guys, let's get real
No other league is remotely close. The CalPreps tool shows that the Trinity league is over 20 points higher than the next strongest league in the nation. Here the leagues, according to CalPreps, that are 40+ average.
Rank | League | State | non-league W-L | Top 1000 non-league W-L | Top 7000 non-league W-L | Average Rating | non-league Schedule Strength |
1 | Southern | 23-7 | 18-7 | 23-7 | 70 | 50.5 |
2 | Utah | 23-7 | 13-5 | 23-7 | 48.9 | 33.8 |
3 | Georgia | 22-8 | 10-8 | 22-8 | 48.1 | 33.6 |
4 | Florida | 5-1 | 2-1 | 5-1 | 47.5 | 24.6 |
5 | Arizona | 19-7 | 6-6 | 18-7 | 47.3 | 29.1 |
6 | Maryland | 23-4 | 5-4 | 21-4 | 47.1 | 23.6 |
7 | Georgia | 22-7 | 8-7 | 22-7 | 46.2 | 29 |
8 | Hawaii | 9-6 | 3-6 | 9-6 | 46.1 | 39.9 |
9 | Arizona | 23-4 | 4-4 | 20-4 | 44.5 | 19.6 |
10 | Southern | 17-13 | 7-12 | 17-13 | 43.9 | 37.6 |
11 | Southern | 22-8 | 6-8 | 22-8 | 43.6 | 33.6 |
12 | Illinois | 17-3 | 4-1 | 17-3 | 42.4 | 22.1 |
13 | Southern | 22-6 | 9-4 | 22-6 | 42.3 | 27.3 |
14 | Indiana | 14-2 | 3-2 | 14-2 | 41.2 | 23 |
15 | Ohio | 13-9 | 3-9 | 13-9 | 40.5 | 34.4 |
16 | Georgia | 19-11 | 8-7 | 19-11 | 40.4 | 29.6 |
17 | Utah | 16-12 | 6-11 | 15-12 | 40.1 | 36.3 |
18 | Southern | 27-3 | 7-1 | 27-3 | 40 | 21.7 |
How come Texas is not on this list by Calpreps? Lot of CIF SS leagues in this list too.
If they're serious about being a state and national power, this would be the next logical step. But it doesn't seem like that is Serra's intention. But I think they need tests like Gorman and Centennial to really find out where the program is more accurately. Whether they decide to build on that or not is up to them
