Football:
An undefeated 2024 season came to an end in about the worst way possible for Mt. SAC.
The Mounties traveled 400 miles north, and they took a 43-11 beatdown at the hands of San Mateo in the 3C2A championship game.
And the writing was on the wall early.
The Bulldogs picked Noah Fuailetolo on the first drive of the game, and they turned that into seven points with a 1-yard TD run.
On the very next possession, the Mounties fumbled the ball.
Dominic Ingrassia cashed it in.
He scored on a 1-yard run for a 14-0 lead just seven-plus minutes into the game.
Four minutes into the second quarter, MSAC was set to punt the ball out of the back of their end zone.
The Mounties punter, however, couldn’t handle the low snap, and it went out of the end zone for a safety.
It gave San Mateo a 16-0 lead.
After a 35-yard field goal by Dieter Kelly, Mt. SAC finally got on the board.
Matthew Fidone’s 39-yard field goal with 4:11 to play in the first half pulled the Mounties to within 19-3 of CSM.
It didn’t get much better in the second half.
In fact, on three third-quarter drives, Mt. SAC forced the Bulldogs to punt.
But personal fouls, including a facemask infraction after a play was over extended San Mateo drives.
Samuel Green scored on a 2-yard run with 6:34 remaining in the third quarter for Mt. SAC.
Fuailetolo hit Nicolas Ceballos on the two-point pass.
It was as close as MSAC would get at 26-11.
CSM, though, closed out their state championship on a 17-0 run.
The Mt. SAC running game, which averaged 209 yards per game, was held to minus-3 yards.
San Mateo had advantages in first downs (22-7), total offense (267-65), passing (80-68), rushing (187-minus 3), and the Bulldogs didn’t turn the ball over, while the Mounties did four times.
On a cold, sometimes wet and windy Saturday afternoon, CSM running back Lolo Mataele put the Bulldogs on his back.
Mataele carried the ball 35 times for 166 yards, and that included TD runs of 1 and 37 yards.
Dominic Ingrassia only had three carries for eight yards, but he scored on 1-and-4-yard TD runs.
Fuailetolo completed 11-of-23 for 68 yards, and he tossed a pair of interceptions.
Jack Benson went 0-for-2 for zero yards, and he was picked once.
Devin Miles, the state’s third-leading rusher, finished his MVP-like season with 25 yards on eight carries.
Miles also caught a pair of passes for 24 yards.
De’shon Thompson had game highs in receptions (4) and receiving yards (32).
Juan Salas led both programs with eight tackles, and Juruan Hardin had seven tackles for MSAC.
Teyondre Coleman tallied six tackles, while Kalim Mikhail, Antonio Mayes, and Harold Peters finished with five tackles each.
As badly as Saturday went, being ranked No. 1 in the state for most of the season and winning 12 consecutive games is something to be very proud of.
Box Score:
MS: 0-3-8-0-(11)
SM: 14-5-14-10-(43)
Scoring:
SM: Lolo Mataele 1 run (Dieter Kelly kick)
SM: Dominic Ingrassia 1 run (Dieter Kelly kick)
SM: Team Safety (Mt. SAC punter couldn’t handle snap)
SM: Dieter Kelly 35 FG
MS: Matthew Fidone 39 FG
SM: James Minot 1 run (Dieter Kelly kick)
MS: Samuel Green 2 run (Fuailetolo pass to Ceballos)
SM: Dominic Ingrassia 4 run (Dieter Kelly kick)
SM: Lolo Mataele 37 run (Dieter Kelly kick)
SM: Dieter Kelly 32 FG
Records: Mt. SAC (12-1); San Mateo (12-1)
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