Riordan Road Trip to Rabobank Stadium!

[RiordanGael]

OneDNA,

I have to admit, I was worried about this one. Palma also being a program that has true talent like Riordan and they also have been here before. I truly take my hat off to them.

But this time, We Are One...We R Riordan shined through. I personally see why Ali choose "will" over skill.

These Crusader's wanted it more...."drop the Mic"

We (truely) R Riordan

 

[OneDNA]

Rack him! Have a safe drive back to the 650 or 415 wherever you end up! Lol

 

[jordan24]

First of all, congrats to Palma on a great season. Rabobank Stadium is an awesome venue for HS football! The Chieftans, especially rb Martinez literally punched the mouth of the Crusaders in the first quarter with two impressive touchdown drives. Many feared this had the makings of a blowout win for Palma. Crusaders finally got on the board with a rushing TD by Jason Greene in the opening minutes of the second quarter...Before halftime, Riordan drove and came away with a field goal to make it 14-10 Palma.
Crusader defense stepped up and shut out the mighty Chieftan offense from the second quarter to the end of the game. Very impressive as Martinez got his share of rushing yards, but when the Chieftans were forced to pass the Crusader pass D stepped up big time making 3 interceptions and pressuring Palma's veteran qb, Richardson after the first quarter.. Also, the Riordan run D came up huge with a recovery of a Martinez fumble that thwarted a scoring drive.
Crusader offense had many looks - Pistol, Wildcat, Empty Backfield, and swapping qbs in Luavasa and Boone. These wrinkles were enough to move the chains throughout the game and eat up precious time in the 4th quarter.
A good game by the Crusaders and a great turnout of parents, alumni, friends and family. Someone mentioned there were 4 tour buses that came down for the game!
Next up - SHP! If the Crusaders play like they did tonight and cut down some of their holding penalties, they could well be on their way to the NorCal Bowl game. Back to the grind for the Crusaders to get ready for SHP as I am sure they will have revenge on their mind on the biggest stage.

 

[Irish_Cheers]

J2 love the comentary you bring after games. And that damn "we R" is growing on me...lol. Jordan or Norcalfan any game details? Interested to hear Palma perspective.

I heard the game online. Palma had a pass intercepted in the end zone and another crucial turnover. The INT was after a long drive, so I'm sure that took a lot of wind out of their sails.

 

[rabbit5]

I want to give the young Riordan coaching staff credit for getting this team ready to play, then for not panicking when they found themselves behind early, making the proper adjustments to slow down the Palma running attack forcing them to throw and thus taking them out of the game. Good job Danny Curtin! Good job Riordan, now let's go.

 

[jordan24]

Impressive job by Coach Curtin. Palma pummeled Riordan early as their O-Line opened up holes and Martinez was a load! Crusaders appeared to be waiting for the play to develop and were arm tackling rather than being aggressive and tackling low and wrapping up Martinez.
Also nice to see the various offensive looks that Fordon presented to Palma. Sanders did not get a lot of big breakaways - credit the Chieftan D. But the combination of Greene and Sanders along with the blocking of the Trench Mob and lead fullback Caston was very effective. Jacky Luavasa had very good game passing to AVH, McAfee and Norman. Several plays were called back or penalized for unsportsmanlike. These need to be cleaned up if they are to move forward.
Overall, a great game called by Coach Fordon and his staff and the ability to stay the course with the plan as all it took was the players to have confidence in the plan and execute it.

 

[thehookup55]

Nice win by Riordan. Palma has gotten out to a hot start in a lot of games. I think it is because people under estimate how big fast and athletic they are. Once you slow down Martinez though you have a good chance to win. I think all Palma supporters knew it was going to come down to the passing game and Riordans DBs definitely won that battle. I was actually happy to see Riordan go with a conservative approach on offense. They have so much size and speed they are really hard to matchup with. Palma actually did a pretty good job on defense. 17 points was the second lowest points Riordans offense had been held to. The only other time Palma was held to 14 points was in their loss to St. Francis. Great game though congrats to Riordan.

 

[RiordanGael]

Read in the salinas paper thus AM. Riordan is the 5th WCAL tesm to play in Salinas and 4th to win there.

There was talk prior to game that Palma should be WCAL. It seems the top of the league has all eon their, no benefit to Palma to join top league in norcal

 

[thehookup55]

One of those loses was a pointless consolation game last year against Serra. In 2014 they lost to Mitty 28-0 in the playoffs. Outside of that one loss the WCAL vs Palma at Rabobank were all very competitive games so I wouldnt say that is a reason why Palma shouldnt play with the WCAL teams. The Palma to WCAL talk has been going on for about 10-15 years now. Mainly from the large public schools in monterey county who got tired of losing to them. Palma would have no business in the WCAL. The travel expenses alone would be too much. Plus Palma is a really small school and their enrollment continues to drop. In the early 2000s when they they had 600-700 students it didnt look like a bad idea. The WCAL schools continued to grow and Palmas enrollment now dropped to under 400 students. IMO Palma has been one of the best small school programs but they have never gotten to display it at the state or regional level because of the old open division. Next year might be the last time for a while that they could have a chance at a CCS championship. After next year Palmas talent will take a big hit. The Frosh and JV teams were not very good. Probably wont even win the MBL Gab.

 

[NorCalSportsFan]

Great game last night, Was like a freezer cold though....that hot chocolate game in handy. Was a great matchup. The team that executed better in the second half won the game. Both teams shot each others feet (penalties, turnovers some forced and other just bad plays), but overall a great game. Either team could have won it. Was great to meet Cal14 after what may be 14+ years posting on these boards and his brother.

Next season the prospect for Palma making an impact in playoffs should be very good. Skill players should be very good with all their speed returning and upcoming QB should be very good (very accurate passer and mobile). They should be favorite in Gab again. Palma will drop off alot after next season, but I am hearing the frosh class next year from 8th graders at Palma and those that attended the school academic open house for next year that were in youth league are going to be very stacked. I know it seems early to tell, but really isn't based on what I have seen over the years. Salinas High will probably be favorite in the Gab not next season, but the following and also Hollister in the mix.

I had a great time at the game (even though Palma lost) watching the Riordan QB who is a real dual threat and they had some really good skill players. The line play was pretty good as well. Keeping Riordan to 17 points was an accomplishment.

Will be surprised if SHP can win in a low scoring game. They don't have the defense but the SHP passing attackis formidable so should be able to score some points. Still think Riordan will win by 2 or three TDs.