High school football: Salesian wins second straight 6-A state title behind dominant rushing performance

RICHMOND – Arlington-Riverside looked like a Goliath of a high school football team in the warmups before the California Interscholastic Federation 6-A state championship game Saturday afternoon.

So it was all the more impressive that Salesian senior Noah Del Sol keyed the Pride’s 42-21 victory for its second straight 6-A state title.

Del Sol, a 5-foot-3, 145-pound running back, rushed for a career-high 178 yards and four touchdowns. He entered the game late in the first quarter after a shoulder injury to Devin Quinn, who led the game in rushing up to that point. Salesian also won the 6-A state title in 2019. There were no football state championships in 2020.

“I’m just excited, happy to back-to-back,” said Del Sol, who was the scout team running back in practice before the 2019 state title game and did not play in that game. “Now as a senior I had a huge part in this game and I’m just very happy and excited for my team.

Quinn rushed for all 67 of his yards in the first quarter before leaving with the injury.

“I had to step up for my team and (Quinn) would have done the same for me if I got injured,” Del Sol said. “I have to give all thanks to my o-line.”

Salesian dominated the line of scrimmage. Its offensive line of left tackle Delon Craft Jr., left guard Julian Gutierrez, center Giancarlo Thurmond, right guard Aaron Bradford and right tackle Samuel Torres paved the way for 439 rushing yards Saturday and 529 total yards.

RICHMOND, CA – DECEMBER 11: Salesian’s Noah Del Sol (4) gains yardage against Arlington-Riverside High during the first half of their CIF Division 6-A state championship game at Salesian High in Richmond, Calif., on Saturday, Dec. 11, 2021. Salesian won 42-21. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)

“The offensive line, they controlled the game,” Salesian coach Chad Nightingale said. “At the end of the day, the kids, they really jelled and they just had eight outstanding games over the past eight weeks. It’s been wonderful.”

Defensively, Salesian (11-2) had 10 sacks, three fumbles recovered and an interception. Gutierrez led the way with three sacks, and Bradford and Thurmond added two apiece, as did Mian Shah. Andre Prince had two fumble recoveries, and Bradford added one. Christian Montuya ended Arlington’s final drive by intercepting a pass with two minutes, 34 seconds left, as Salesian shut out Arlington in the second half.

In fact, Salesian had fumble recoveries on two of Arlington’s first three plays from scrimmage (Bradford and Prince), resulting in short fields for the Pride. Salesian also limited a potent Lions running attack to 76 total yards.

It was an emotional scene after the game at Salesian.

“I couldn’t hold back the tears,” said Salesian quarterback Nick Fontanilla, who completed all eight of his passes in the first half and finished 9 for 11 for 90 yards and also 71 yards rushing. “As soon as that final whistle blew, I just kind of let it all out. Man, all this work paid off.”

The two teams exchanged turnovers to start off the game before Salesian took advantage of a short field to score on a five-yard run by Christian Harris. The senior had 64 yards rushing in the game.

Prince set up the Pride’s offense with another fumble recovery, and Fontanilla immediately took advantage on a 26-yard touchdown pass to a wide open Marco Turqueza. Jacob Diaz’s point-after-touchdown kick (he was 6 for 6 in the game) gave Salesian a 14-0 lead less than six minutes into the game.

Arlington (7-9) answered with a 53-yard touchdown run by Dominic Johnson, but Salesian again led by two touchdowns after Del Sol’s first score on a 7-yard run. The Lions came right back with a 58-yard touchdown pass from Johnson to Mitchell Wood, and the busy first quarter ended with Salesian leading 21-14.

Del Sol bolted for a 34-yard touchdown in the second quarter, but Arlington grabbed momentum entering halftime. With just 3.8s second remaining, Johnson scored on a 10-yard run, so Salesian’s lead was only 28-21 entering the intermission.

But after Prince grabbed another Arlington fumble recovery on the first drive of the second half, Salesian marched 61 yards to score on a 1-yard run by Del Sol. He capped the scoring with a six-yard run with 9:42 left in the game.