November 20, 2015, 05:00 AM By Nathan Mollat, Daily Journal
No matter how the Central Coast Section playoffs are sliced, teams are not facing a weak opponent.
So, throw out the fact that a 9-1 Burlingame team, a tri-champion of the Peninsula Athletic League’s Bay Division, got the No. 4 seed and will host the biggest surprise of the season in No. 5 Riordan (7-3), from the vaunted West Catholic Athletic League at 7 p.m. tonight.
At this point of the season, it doesn’t matter.
“It is what it is. It’s unavoidable. You’re going to get matched up with private schools (in CCS),” said Burlingame coach John Philipopoulos. “We’re an ‘A’ league champ. It’s a playoff game. We don’t expect some cupcake. If we think we’re as good as we are, we have to go out and play.”
Riordan (7-3) served notice this was not your typical, win-one-game-a-year Crusaders’ squad. Not when they opened the season by beating defending CCS Open Division champion Sacred Heart Prep, and doing so emphatically, 48-21.
Riordan went on to beat Menlo-Atherton (26-9), St. Mary’s (49-14), Mitty (37-21) and another eye-opening, 66-45 win over Serra.
“I see speed and lots of it,” Philipopoulos said. “That’s our biggest concern. The big-play capability on offense, defense and the kicking game, is our biggest concern going in.”
Riordan feature a number of playmakers on both sides of the ball. Utilizing a spread-option attack, Riordan gets the ball into the hands of their playmakers in space and lets them do the rest: bubble screens to receivers and traditional screens to running backs, a quarterback who is a threat to run or pass.
Philipopoulos said his team will have to be fundamentally sound and understand that a good team — like Riordan — is going to make plays. The Crusaders will complete passes. They will gain yards on the ground.
“They’re going to complete [those bubble screen passes]. That’s OK. They’re going to make plays. It’s a playoff game. We expect that,” Philipopoulos said. “We have to be sound and smart. We need to force them to earn their scores.”
Quarterback Jacky Luavasa has thrown for 1,629 yards and 10 touchdowns, while also adding 424 yards rushing and eight more scores.
Raymone Sanders is the Crusaders’ workhorse running back, rushing for just shy of 1,000 yards and averaging eight yards a carry.
Receiver/return man Aidan Verba-Hamilton is a threat to score any time he touches the ball. He led the Crusaders in receptions and yards — with 30 and 508, respectively — while scoring six touchdowns. He added another seven touchdowns on kickoff (5) and punt returns (2), while racking up nearly 900 return yards. He averaged 137 yards of total offense a game.
Defensively, linebacker Rocco Russell has been a beast. He is averaging 10.2 tackles per game, including 10.5 sacks and a total of 19.5 tackles for loss this season.
Don’t think, however, that Burlingame doesn’t have the weapons to beat Riordan. The Panthers have one of the best rushing attacks in the CCS and it might be that Burlingame’s best defense is to have a consistent offense.
“We talked about that all week and reemphasized that,” Philipopoulos said. “We need to control the ball and work the clock and move the chains.
“Punting is OK — as long we don’t kick to their return guy.”
And the Panthers appear to be champing at the bit for this test. Philipopoulos believes the seniors on this year’s team are hungry for postseason success. Riordan may have to contend with an angry Laipeli Palu, who was limited to just four carries against San Mateo last week.
“I think he’s upset he got only four carries,” Philipopoulos said. “He, Cooper (wide receiver Cooper Gindraux) and some of our other seniors have been on another level this week.”
The Crusaders were 7-0 and the talk of Northern California. As good as Riordan was to start the season, however, the Crusaders seemed to run out of steam or their final four opponents finally figured them out. They are limping into the playoffs, having lost three of their final four — including a 36-27 loss to St. Francis last week — to finish in a tie for third place in the West Catholic Athletic League standings with a 4-3 record.
“They lost three out of four; lose to Valley Christian, lose to St. Francis. It (the WCAL is) the strongest league in Northern California,” Philipopoulos said. “They played well (in those games) and they made a couple of mistakes. They’re a great team in a great league. [Playing in the WCAL is] physical, it’s tough. Maybe it wears you down.”
But like any good coach, Philipopoulos is more concerned about having his team prepared for the first round of the playoffs.
He believes he has.
“We’re not backing down. We have a strong senior class who have been working extremely hard. Regardless of what happens, we’ll be ready,” Philipopoulos said. “We told the kids, if we win the game, it’s because we played better. If they win, it’s because they played better.”
No matter how the Central Coast Section playoffs are sliced, teams are not facing a weak opponent.
So, throw out the fact that a 9-1 Burlingame team, a tri-champion of the Peninsula Athletic League’s Bay Division, got the No. 4 seed and will host the biggest surprise of the season in No. 5 Riordan (7-3), from the vaunted West Catholic Athletic League at 7 p.m. tonight.
At this point of the season, it doesn’t matter.
“It is what it is. It’s unavoidable. You’re going to get matched up with private schools (in CCS),” said Burlingame coach John Philipopoulos. “We’re an ‘A’ league champ. It’s a playoff game. We don’t expect some cupcake. If we think we’re as good as we are, we have to go out and play.”
Riordan (7-3) served notice this was not your typical, win-one-game-a-year Crusaders’ squad. Not when they opened the season by beating defending CCS Open Division champion Sacred Heart Prep, and doing so emphatically, 48-21.
Riordan went on to beat Menlo-Atherton (26-9), St. Mary’s (49-14), Mitty (37-21) and another eye-opening, 66-45 win over Serra.
“I see speed and lots of it,” Philipopoulos said. “That’s our biggest concern. The big-play capability on offense, defense and the kicking game, is our biggest concern going in.”
Riordan feature a number of playmakers on both sides of the ball. Utilizing a spread-option attack, Riordan gets the ball into the hands of their playmakers in space and lets them do the rest: bubble screens to receivers and traditional screens to running backs, a quarterback who is a threat to run or pass.
Philipopoulos said his team will have to be fundamentally sound and understand that a good team — like Riordan — is going to make plays. The Crusaders will complete passes. They will gain yards on the ground.
“They’re going to complete [those bubble screen passes]. That’s OK. They’re going to make plays. It’s a playoff game. We expect that,” Philipopoulos said. “We have to be sound and smart. We need to force them to earn their scores.”
Quarterback Jacky Luavasa has thrown for 1,629 yards and 10 touchdowns, while also adding 424 yards rushing and eight more scores.
Raymone Sanders is the Crusaders’ workhorse running back, rushing for just shy of 1,000 yards and averaging eight yards a carry.
Receiver/return man Aidan Verba-Hamilton is a threat to score any time he touches the ball. He led the Crusaders in receptions and yards — with 30 and 508, respectively — while scoring six touchdowns. He added another seven touchdowns on kickoff (5) and punt returns (2), while racking up nearly 900 return yards. He averaged 137 yards of total offense a game.
Defensively, linebacker Rocco Russell has been a beast. He is averaging 10.2 tackles per game, including 10.5 sacks and a total of 19.5 tackles for loss this season.
Don’t think, however, that Burlingame doesn’t have the weapons to beat Riordan. The Panthers have one of the best rushing attacks in the CCS and it might be that Burlingame’s best defense is to have a consistent offense.
“We talked about that all week and reemphasized that,” Philipopoulos said. “We need to control the ball and work the clock and move the chains.
“Punting is OK — as long we don’t kick to their return guy.”
And the Panthers appear to be champing at the bit for this test. Philipopoulos believes the seniors on this year’s team are hungry for postseason success. Riordan may have to contend with an angry Laipeli Palu, who was limited to just four carries against San Mateo last week.
“I think he’s upset he got only four carries,” Philipopoulos said. “He, Cooper (wide receiver Cooper Gindraux) and some of our other seniors have been on another level this week.”
The Crusaders were 7-0 and the talk of Northern California. As good as Riordan was to start the season, however, the Crusaders seemed to run out of steam or their final four opponents finally figured them out. They are limping into the playoffs, having lost three of their final four — including a 36-27 loss to St. Francis last week — to finish in a tie for third place in the West Catholic Athletic League standings with a 4-3 record.
“They lost three out of four; lose to Valley Christian, lose to St. Francis. It (the WCAL is) the strongest league in Northern California,” Philipopoulos said. “They played well (in those games) and they made a couple of mistakes. They’re a great team in a great league. [Playing in the WCAL is] physical, it’s tough. Maybe it wears you down.”
But like any good coach, Philipopoulos is more concerned about having his team prepared for the first round of the playoffs.
He believes he has.
“We’re not backing down. We have a strong senior class who have been working extremely hard. Regardless of what happens, we’ll be ready,” Philipopoulos said. “We told the kids, if we win the game, it’s because we played better. If they win, it’s because they played better.”
