Prep football: San Marin stymied in 17-7 home loss to Vintage
When the football teams from San Marin High and Vintage clashed, it was always going to be a contrast in styles.
Vintage’s style of play won out on a rainy Friday night at San Marin High. The Crushers were able to consistently gain yards on the ground with their powerful rushing attack while San Marin’s aerial offense was mostly ineffective.
Vintage scored touchdowns on its first two possessions then chewed up almost 8 ½ minutes on a drive to start the third quarter to claim a 17-7 victory against the Mustangs (6-3, 1-3 Adobe).
“We loaded the box trying to stop their run game,” San Marin coach Dom DiMare said. “Well-coached team and so we took a risk doing it. Even throughout the game, we kept the box loaded. We gave up 17 points. We probably shouldn’t have given up any but we did.
“Vintage wanted it more than us tonight. It probably set up better for them with the rain. We’re a 10 personnel team [one running back, four receivers, no tight ends] but we have to learn to adapt when things like this happen and we didn’t.”
An overcast sky finally opened up about 25 minutes before kickoff and never relented. San Marin received the ball to start the game but had a first down catch by Wesley Timmel wiped out due to a penalty. A couple more flags followed, forcing the Mustangs to punt.
Vintage (6-3, 2-2) took the ball with a relatively short field. San Marin’s run defense was up to the task early, limiting Vintage to minimal gains on its first two carries.
Facing a third-and-long, Vintage quarterback Blake Porter was forced to throw for one of the few times in the game. Porter found a receiver just beyond the sticks and the drive continued.
Vintage kept the ball on the ground the rest of the way and went ahead 7-0 on a 10-yard touchdown run by Mason Howell.
San Marin’s next drive went nowhere and a short punt set the Crushers up again around midfield. Bo Lode capped the drive with an 18-yard scoring run to make it 14-0 early in the second quarter.
“Field position was a big thing, too, but we couldn’t get out of field position,” DiMare said. “We were backed up. It was tough to punt.”
San Marin put together a drive late in the first half. Quarterback Daniel Rolovich converted a fourth down with a run then took a deep shot to Joey Cipollina on the ensuing third down. Cipollina, who was double covered, appeared to have the ball for a split second but a defender knocked it loose and another defender almost came up with an interception before the ball ended up on the ground.
Rolovich took another deep shot on fourth down but defensive back Travis Larsen came away with an interception inside the Vintage 10-yard line.
“Those are the plays you’ve got to convert on and we didn’t,” DiMare said.
Vintage ran the ball three times and took a 14-0 lead into the locker room at halftime. The Crushers received the ball to start the third quarter and San Marin’s run defense again stood tall on back-to-back plays like it did to start the game. Facing a third-and-9, Porter was again up to the task when forced to throw, finding John Bullock downfield for a first down.
The play proved pivotal as instead of forcing a quick three-and-out, San Marin watched as Vintage methodically plowed its way down the field, chewing up most of the third quarter before kicking a field goal to go ahead 17-0.
San Marin, now trailing by three scores, had to continue to air it out in the rain. Rolovich was sacked following an errant snap on the ensuing drive then was intercepted by Lode on third-and-long.
San Marin got on the scoreboard when Rolovich threw a short pass to Cipollina, who tight-roped down the sideline for a 36-yard score with 2:39 left to play.
The Mustangs forced a quick three-and-out and came close to blocking the ensuing punt with about 90 seconds left to play. The Mustangs ran out of time before they could get out of the gates on the final drive.
“Vintage did a great job and we didn’t execute when we needed to,” DiMare said. “We had a lot of offensive penalties on big plays and a lot of dropped balls on big plays that we should have converted. Like I said – I’ve been saying it every week – when you play in this league, this new league, you make a few mistakes and it’s over.”
With six wins in the bank, San Marin is already assured of a spot in the North Coast Section playoffs. It’s just a matter of where the Mustangs end up. San Marin has been ranked eighth by MaxPreps for the past few weeks – as such staring at a potential date with perennial juggernaut De La Salle in the first round of the Open Division playoffs.
Should San Marin tumble out of the top eight between now and the end of the season, the Mustangs could end up in Division II or III instead.
“We play to win every game and where we end up in the playoffs – if we end up playing De La Salle in the Open, we do, and if we end up in D-II or D-III – that’s where we end up,” DiMare said.