NCS football playoff roundup: Analy, Cardinal Newman move on

Analy and Cardinal Newman, No. 1 seeds in the North Coast Section football playoffs, advance to the semifinals with very different kinds of victories. Analy, the No. 1 in Division 3, was pressed to the finish by No. 8 seed El Cerrito before earning a 42-31 victory. Cardinal Newman, No. 1 in Division 4, had no trouble dispatching No. 9 seed San Marin, 56-18.

At Sebastopol, Analy quarterback Jack Newman threw for five touchdowns as the Tigers advanced.

Analy, the No. 1 seed, will host the winner of Saturday's game between Marin Catholic and Miramonte.

El Cerrito gave Analy all it could handle. The Gauchos trailed 35-31 in the final minutes and had possession. However, Conner Kearney forced a fumble and Jordan Parks recovered the ball in the end zone for the insurance score.

The five touchdown passes gives Newman 50 in 12 games. He also reached another yardage plateau. Including the 334 he racked up against El Cerrito, he now has 4,003 yards on the season.

The Tigers trailed 17-14 at halftime but rallied to take the lead 21-17 heading to the fourth quarter.

Analy scored three times in the final period. The first score came on a 29-yard pass from Newman to Ross Simmons. Newman then connected from 34 yard out with Spencer Vogel and Parks' fumble recovery closed out the scoring.

Spencer Vogel was Analy's leading receiver with seven catches good for 102 yards and a touchdown. Simmons only caught three balls but each one went for a touchdown.

Analy plays on with an 11-1 record while El Cerrito's season ends with an 8-4 mark.

CARDINAL NEWMAN 56, SAN MARIN 18

Cardinal Newman scored twice in the opening minutes and went on to defeat visiting San Marin to advance to the semifinals of the NCS Division 4 tournament.

The Cardinals will host the winner of Saturday's game between Kennedy and Piedmont.

Against San Marin, the Cardinals scored their first touchdown with 10:25 left in the first quarter on a 17-yard run by Mark Boschetti.

Then, at the 9:49 mark, Jason Moran blocked a Mustangs punt and Dino Kahaulelio picked up the ball at the 3 and scored. It was Moran's fifth blocked punt of the season.

The Cardinals, the top seed in the bracket, led 28-0 after one period and 49-6 at halftime.

In the second half, coach Paul Cronin substituted liberally and the game ended with junior varsity players on the field.

Quarterback Jordon Brookshire was nearly perfect with his passes as he completed 18 of 22 for 240 yards and a touchdown. He also threw two interceptions.

Leading the running game was junior Tanner Mendoza, who scored touchdowns on runs of 6, 2 and 20 yards. He carried 11 times for 87 yards.

The Newman starting defensive unit dominated San Marin before taking a seat on the bench.

Leading the unit were Irwin Mann, Wyatt Darien, Kahalelio and Mendoza.

“Mendoza played great on both sides of the ball,” Cronin said of the inside linebacker. “He had those touchdowns and also made nine tackles.

“Damian Wallace was also outstanding. He had two long kickoff returns and a big punt return.”

Cronin's scouting report predicted San Marin would have trouble running again the Cardinals.

“We thought we matched up pretty well against their running game and that's the way it turned out,” he said.

“We had a great week of practice and it carried over to the game.”