WCAL Football 2017: Sports Stars Magazine write up of Serra's State Bowl Win

[Rmbr26]

SHC vs Bells

A tough way for the Irish to start the game, fumbling the kick-off in the red zone and then allowing the Bells' completely predictable offense to run right up the middle. As posted previous the Bell's run the same plays with the main RB being Ajiake [whom the Irish should be keying on]. Announcers said SHC RB Heard not playing tonite, but suddenly in backfield[?]. Good fumble recovery by Irish but 3 & out. Now Bells on move again and main weapon again Ajiake.
Is it just me or are Irish keying on the main RB? The Bells QB is not a big threat and fumbled last carry. Irish just need to key on run and limit penalties such as the "hold" a few minutes ago.

Sad the live-stream makes it appear there are like 20 fans on the one side of the stadium ..

 

[rabbit5]

Is there a score?

 

[Rmbr26]

Unless SHC coaches make some adjustments & quick this is going to be a long nite for Irish. So far Bells RB Ajiake is looking like Ezekiel Elliot against Irish.

Terrible hold call against Irish on nice pass play. Mistakes really hurting SHC

 

[Rmbr26]

Is there a score?

14-0 Bells and so far SHC can do nothing right..

Sorry spoke too soon as SHC punter runs for first down and nearly TD - great play

 

[ARHS Stats]

Bellarmine 14 SHC 0 in 2nd qtr
Austin Ajiake scored both TDs for the Bells. He gained 60 yards rushing in the first qtr.

 

[ARHS Stats]

Ronan Orford gains a 1st down on a fake punt, about a 30 yard run after a bad snap.
Anthony Heard scored on a 10 yd TD run for SHC

Bell 14 SHC 7

 

[Rmbr26]

Wow- Irish suddenly have momentum and 41-yard TD pass.

14-0 Bells and suddenly 14-14 tie game!

 

[ARHS Stats]

Bell 14 SHC 14

Amin Oglesby 41yd TD pass from Will Irons

 

[Rmbr26]

Said before this game SHC would need to keep SS deep for occasional couple passes into secondary by Bellls. Bells just do exactly that and then RB Ajiake with limited coverage catches a 2nd completion as Bells now into red zone. Coach Janda of Bells so far is winning the chess match it seems.

 

[ARHS Stats]

Jack Devine scores for Bellarmine on a short TD run.

BCP 21 SHC 14
1:19 left 2nd qtr

 

[ARHS Stats]

Half Time BCP 21 SHC 14

 

[Irish_Cheers]

Why is the rest of the jv season canceled???

Rick Fran says due to injuries.

 

[ARHS Stats]

Mitty 21 St. Ignatius 7 at Half Time, 3rd qtr about to start.
St. Ignatius to receive kickoff

 

[ARHS Stats]

Mitty punt return TD called back because of a Holding call

 

[ARHS Stats]

3:56 left 3rd qtr. St. Ignatius with a really good goal line stand to stop the Mitty drive

 

[ARHS Stats]

Bell's Jack Devine 49 yd TD run, extra point is no good.

BCP 27 SHC 14 in the 3rd qtr

 

[ARHS Stats]

SI TD pass called back by a Holding Call.

7:30 left 4th qtr

 

[ARHS Stats]

6:15 left in the game

AM 21 SI 7
Mitty ball

 

[ARHS Stats]

SI moves into the Red Zone with 3:24 left in game, about 17 yard line.

 

[ARHS Stats]

St. Ignatius TD pass.

2:41 left in the game

AM 21 SI 14

 

[ARHS Stats]

Fumble on Kickoff return by Mitty. SI ball

 

[ARHS Stats]

1:59 left, SI ball on the 18 yard line in the Red Zone

 

[ARHS Stats]

SI scores, time out Mitty

SI 20 AM 21 extra point to be tried

BCP scores on a scoop and score TD

BCP 34 SHC 14 in 4th qtr

 

[ARHS Stats]

David Woodruff scores on a TD run on the 2pt conversion

SI 22 AM 21 1:20 left in the game

 

[Rmbr26]

Big upset if that holds up - big win for S.I.

SHC - Bells game broadcast went down into 4th quarter and looked to be Bells 34-14 over Irish

 

[ARHS Stats]

Time out SI

0:38 left, Mitty on the SI 49 yard line

 

[ARHS Stats]

Mitty moves the ball to the SI 32 yard line.

18 seconds left

 

[ARHS Stats]

Mitty on the SI 20 yard line, 8 seconds left

Mitty timeout

SI 22 AM 21

 

[ARHS Stats]

Mitty timeout
4 seconds left
Mitty on the SI 20 yard line

Mitty to try a 37 yard Field Goal

SI timeout

 

[ARHS Stats]

Field Goal Kick is wide left.

Final Score
St. Ignatius 22 Archbishop Mitty 21

 

[jordan24]

SI wins 22-21!

 

[ARHS Stats]

Bellarmine 34 SHC 14

3:40 left fourth qtr

 

[ARHS Stats]

Bellarmine ball with 3:11 left in the fourth qtr

 

[ARHS Stats]

Final Score

Bellarmine 34 Sacred Heart Cathedral 14

 

[jordan24]

Bells seem to always earn a win with their backs against the wall.
Good for the 'Cats!

 

[Irish_Cheers]

SHC vs Bells


Sad the live-stream makes it appear there are like 20 fans on the one side of the stadium ..

Bellarmine barely had ~30 people in the stands. Unreal. Irish had at least 200. It was Senior Night. A/D said "Happy New Year" to me. She was either early or late... Too bad we gave this game away.

"When I was your age..." We would have at least 1000 people just on our side every game, regardless of our record. Plus a reliable cheering section.

 

[thecatch80]

Bellarmine barely had ~30 people in the stands. Unreal. Irish had at least 200. It was Senior Night. A/D said "Happy New Year" to me. She was either early or late... Too bad we gave this game away.

"When I was your age..." We would have at least 1000 people just on our side every game, regardless of our record. Plus a reliable cheering section.

The crowd did seem awfully light. This was my first game seeing them play.

 

[Rmbr26]

Irish_Cheers said:↑
"Bellarmine barely had ~30 people in the stands. Unreal. Irish had at least 200. It was Senior Night. A/D said "Happy New Year" to me. She was either early or late... Too bad we gave this game away.
"When I was your age..." We would have at least 1000 people just on our side every game, regardless of our record. Plus a reliable cheering section.
Irish: Not sure how many factors are involved in the small crowds that attend, but likely the most contributing is the teams on-going records year to year. I've noticed for years the SF city teams just don't draw the fans even at the home games [other than maybe the SHC-S.I. game or ARHS-SHC game garnering more modest interest]. Less players on teams also means less parents, friends and students in the stands, although some schools such as Half Moon Bay where it seems the entire town turns out for home games has a roster of 28 players [HMB was undefeated until last night].
The Serra-VC game at Serra today will draw a big crowd of which should be several thousand, still a bit modest by past WCAL standards. The cheerleaders will be there also from either Notre Dame or Mercy and likely 1500 fans on Serra side and another 400-500 on VC side [maybe more since not televised today]. I do remember big crowds from past years at some of the games where 5,000 - 6,000 or larger was not unusual.

 

[jordan24]

Of the City teams, Riordan has had the best home turnout despite their won-loss records over the years. Being the only SF all-boys WCAL school, I believe, has a lot to do with it. Holds true for the other all-boys schools Bellarmine and Serra. I even heard there were great turnouts for the Frosh games between these schools.

 

[kshepp]

I even heard there were great turnouts for the Frosh games between these schools.

Yeah, the stands were full for the SI @ Riordan frosh game last Saturday morning. It probably helps to have teams with rosters that approach 50+

I'll bet the SI turnout at Foothill College last night for SI @ Mitty was probably similar to Bellarmine @ SHC.

It's not at all surprising to see turnout down in general....

There's definitely the big one: injury-risk-inspired drop off in general interest in kids playing football... but beyond that...

• With traffic what it is in the bay area these days, a ~2hr drive for a 7pm game just means some people can't make it
• If you can't make the drive, the games are often streaming
• If you can't catch the stream, you can watch your kids highlights on Hudl the next day
• There's generally no school-provided fan/student transport, so good luck getting kids to drive/carpool/get rides to/from the games up/down the peninsula
• Other sports like football, volleyball, golf, tennis, field hockey, water polo... all those kids are practicing after school, which means a bunch of student-athletes just can't make it because of practice or upcoming games. Somewhat related: SI frosh football practice ended at 5:45 last night ahead of their 10am game today, so a few younger siblings missed their brothers' varsity game in Los Altos last night at 7:00pm
• Other sports, e.g. World Series, Warriors, etc
• Changing demographics - Maybe this is more city specific, but I suspect the cost of living is driving out families and alumni such that the pool of people who think "Hey, it's Friday night... lets take Uber over to Kezar for a high school football game" is probably shrinking

 

[kiddman32]

HS sports attendance seems to be down just about everywhere. Even some (not all) heated-rivalry basketball games are now played in half-full gyms, and non-league games often have something like 150 fans showing up (if even that many).

I was amazed to see half the seats empty at Campo last year when they hosted hated rival Miramonte, but at least the Miramonte gym got filled for their game vs. Campo. That used to be a guaranteed sellout, both places. Of course there are exceptions, like Serra SI and MV-DLS, always tough tickets, but many other games are mostly ignored by fans now.

This trend has been happening for years... I even remember when I was still in Oregon that usually-full gyms just weren't that way anymore. I remember a parent telling me something like "Kids just don't have the time to go to games anymore because they get loaded up with so much homework".

Add in the factors above plus the zillions of other school activities that we didn't used to have, and you get mostly-empty gyms and stadiums. It's too bad, but I think HS sports may eventually cease to exist.