High school football: McClymonds’ NorCal dynasty continues, romps in 3-A final past Campolindo
OAKLAND – The Campolindo High School football team scored a touchdown on its opening possession Saturday night, using less than four minutes off the game clock to move the ball 82 yards on 10 plays.
McClymonds needed one play on its opening drive to score its first touchdown. Then needed just one play to reach the end zone again on its third possession of the game.
Just like that, McClymonds took a lead it would never relinquish, going on to earn an emphatic 40-21 over visiting Campolindo to capture the Division 3-A North regional championship and punch its ticket to a fifth straight state title game.
“We just ran the ball well and played physical and fast,” Warriors coach Michael Peters said. “That was our key.”
The Warriors will host Birmingham-Lake Balboa next Saturday at 6 p.m. Birmingham (9-5) beat Patrick Henry-San Diego 42-35 in 3-A South regional final.
Mack won the 5-A CIF title in 2016, the 5-AA state crown in 2017, and the 4-A championship in 2018. The Warriors were 2-A North regional champs in 2019 but lost to Oxnard in the CIF final, and were seemingly only denied another shot at a state title in the spring because of the pandemic.
It’s a remarkable run of consistency for a school with an enrollment of less than 400.
“This means a lot, coming from a small school as we do,” Peters said. “I believe we’re the only school to make it to state in (five) divisions. That’s huge for a small school in West Oakland.
“It’s just the heart and the family atmosphere we have. We’re going to give you our best shot, win lose or draw.”
McClymonds (11-1) piled up close to 400 yards on the ground, with junior running back Jaivian Thomas leading the way with three touchdowns and 239 rushing on 11 carries.
“I felt I could have a big game,” Thomas said, “just from studying film and the work we put in this week during practice.”
With Campolindo leading 7-0 on a two-yard touchdown run by Michael Coane with 8:27 left in the first quarter, Thomas took a handoff on first down from quarterback Dreyan Paul and ran 64 yards for his first touchdown with 8:04 to go.
After McClymonds forced a turnover on downs at its own 19, Thomas, on his second carry of the game, ran 81 yards for another touchdown for a 12-7 Warriors lead as he was once again just too quick for Campolindo’s defense.
After Thomas’ 11-yard touchdown run with 7:52 left in the second quarter, Campolindo was able to respond on its next possession. Max Rittmann capped a six-play drive with a 9-yard touchdown run to cut McClymonds’ lead to 18-14.
But that was as close as the Cougars (10-4) would get, as Dwayne McDougle scored on a 33-yard touchdown run on the Warriors’ next drive to restore their double-digit lead. Mack tacked on two more touchdowns in the third quarter to seal the win, its eighth straight since a 30-27 overtime loss to Menlo-Atherton on Sept. 24.
Campolindo quarterback Dashiell Weaver threw for 315 yards, and Robbie Mascheroni was his favorite target with seven catches for 134 yards and a touchdown. But the Cougars, the North Coast Section Division II champions, came up empty on three other drives inside the Warriors’ red zone.
“Our guys fought hard all season long,” Campolindo coach Kevin Macy said. “But this was a tough matchup for us tonight, and we knew that coming in here.”
