Prep football: St. Vincent takes NBL-Redwood crown with win over Maria Carrillo

St. Vincent’s going back-to-back.

The Mustangs won the outright North Bay League Redwood football championship Saturday with a 28-7 victory over Maria Carrillo. It’s their second straight league championship; last year, they finished in a three-way tie with Montgomery and Santa Rosa.

This is also the first 10-0 season in St. Vincent’s 105-year history, and second undefeated regular season, after going 8-0 in 1988.

“It feels great to be the outright NBL champ,” St. Vincent head coach Trent Herzog said. “The team played real tough today; Maria Carrillo showed up today and defensively they gave us some problems, especially in the second half. We had to battle and we had to work hard for this victory — 10-0 and league champs, man, it feels great.”

St. Vincent (10-0, 4-0) now has obvious momentum going into the North Coast Section playoffs, for which seedings will be unveiled Sunday.

“I’m not going to say I’m ready for the season to be over, but at the end of it I feel accomplished right now,” Mustangs running back Kai Hall said. “I know we have a lot more to be accomplished, we’ve had a great season so far, and I just want to keep it rolling and keep it moving.”

Here are some key takeaways from Saturday’s game:

Hall inching closer

The star running back had another stellar day, rushing 18 times for 137 yards for three touchdowns.

It’s the bigger picture, however, that has all of the Mustangs’ attention.

Coming into today, Hall had 5,216 career yards. The Redwood Empire record for career rushing yards is 5,447 — set by Casa Grande’s Joe Trombetta from 2003-2005 — meaning Hall needed 231 yards to break the record.

Hall’s total of 137 yards in Saturday’s over Maria Carrillo (4-6, 2-2) sets him up nicely for the postseason run, as he only needs 95 yards. Based on his statistics this season, there’s a big possibility that could happen next game.

Mustangs’ defense shows out

An unsung hero in this game was clearly St. Vincent’s defensive line.

The big boys up front were terrorizing the Pumas’ backfield all day long, and Cameron Vaughn sacked Carrillo quarterback Tommy McPhee twice.

“I thought our front six, our two inside ’backers and our defensive line, played really well,” Herzog said. “Robert Rooks up front, he doesn’t get a lot of stats, but just anchoring the line and shutting down the strong side. Nathan Rooks had a heck of a game, at least two sacks and some tackles for losses. The whole defense played really good.”

The play from the line set up big plays by the rest of the defense, highlighted by Tobias Klein taking an interception 34 yards to the house.

“We’re just a great team,” Nathan Rooks said. “We bond together so well, and I think that’s important when you have that defensive effort. We’re all brothers, no one is singled out, and we’re all family.”

The Mustangs will now find out their first-round playoff opponent Sunday when the seedings are released, but for now they can celebrate their second consecutive league title.