MOUNTAIN VIEW – In the midst of St. Francis High’s come-from-behind 35-28 victory over powerful Central Catholic-Modesto on Friday night, there was a stretch in which everything St. Francis quarterback Matthew Dougherty threw came down in his receivers’ hands.
After throwing a 38-yard touchdown pass in stride and down the middle to Andrew Adkison for a score that tied the game at 21-21, Dougherty ran off the field and up and down the sidelines, yelling, “It’s too easy! it’s too easy!”
The time and repetitions that Dougherty has put in with receivers Adkison and Riley Long since playing together on the freshman and junior varsity teams, and through the summer leading into the season-opener was clearly evident Friday and vital to the Lancers’ big non-league victory.
Playing in his first game since he helped St. Francis beat De La Salle last September, Dougherty rallied the Lancers with three second-half touchdown passes, including two in a 71-second span the fourth quarter — a 22-yarder to Long tied the game with 9:59 left and a 24-yarder to Adkison won it with 8:48 left.
And while the new-look Lancer defense with only three returning starters bent a lot, but ultimately did not break, making a key stop in the waning minutes.
“We knew it was going to be a physical game,” St. Francis coach Greg Calcagno said. “That’s why we put them on the schedule. Win or lose, we’re going to be a lot better and a lot more tested. We find out a lot more about ourselves by playing a team like Central Catholic.”
Central Catholic’s Tyler Jacklich blasted through Lancers with touchdown runs of 80 and 85 yards on the way to 281 yards on 21 carries, mostly up the gut. But shortly into the Central Catholic’s final drive, Jacklich was forced to the bench with an injury and the Raiders had to try and win it without him.
The 11-play drive fizzled at the Lancers’ 13-yard line when Jackson Cahoon’s coverage forced a fourth-down incompletion in the end zone with three minutes left.
Still, the drama was not over. St. Francis collected one first down, but consecutive runs for losses, followed by Central Catholic timeouts forced the Lancers’ into a third-and-16 on its own 19 with 2:10 left – a perfect opportunity for one final Central Catholic stab at tying the game.
Dougherty went deep toward Adkison, as he had throughout the game, against man coverage. There was shoulder-to-shoulder contact and the ball sailed high for an incompletion. Instead, Central Catholic was called for pass interference, giving St. Francis a first down and the ability to run out the clock.
Dougherty was 5-for-5 in the second half and 10 of 16 for 201 yards overall. Facing mostly man coverages, his timing with Adkison and Long was superb. Whether the routes were short, medium or deep, the connection was uncanny.
“I know them and they know me inside and out,” Dougherty said. “And then we got all the looks we wanted to see and it was just like practice. We saw what we wanted and I knew where to attack them.”
The passes were in stride on the deep routes, or to the back shoulder on sidelines patterns, or just high enough for the receiver to catch on several others. Adkison finished with five catches for 140 yards and Long had five for 61.
Another big play: Andrew Carrasquillo’s interception deep in St. Francis’ own territory when Central Catholic seemed poised to take a 21-7 third-quarter lead. Carrasquillo returned the pick 72 yards, setting up a one-play drive to tie it, on Keala Keanaaina’s 10-yard run.
The Lancers’ 1-2 punch of elusive backs Keanaaina and Kamau Julien combined for 173 yards and enabled the Lancers to keep the Central Catholic defense honest.
Cal-Hi Sports ranked St. Francis No. 21 in the state and Central Catholic No. 26, so Friday’s matchup could end up huge for state playoff positioning later in the season. But in the near future, it doesn’t get any easier for both teams. Central Catholic will face Serra in two weeks and the nation’s top team, St. John Bosco, St. Francis will get some major tests in September, facing De La Salle in two weeks and WCAL rival Serra on Sept. 23.
“In all honesty, we had some questions coming into this game – they’re pretty physical — and we were able to run the football,” Calcagno said. “We like what we saw from our team. We’ve got a lot of work to do, but we like what we saw.”
Source: www.mercurynews.com