2019 Thanksgiving weekend CIF-SS championship recaps

A year ago, stadiums in Southern California were packed with fans excited to watch their team compete for a coveted CIF-Southern Section championship. This year the stadiums sit empty. The players are lifting weights and doing drills in shorts for scouts instead of strapping on a helmet. No CIF luncheon for players and media at the Grand Hotel in Long Beach. No traditional Thanksgiving morning walk-through practice with the parents in attendance. It’s quite frankly depressing. We all are doing our best to be safe and slow the spread of COVID-19 and it is better for us as a society in the long run. But a Thanksgiving without high school football championship games feels...empty. Instead of drowning in our sorrows, let’s take a look back at the great slate of CIF-SS championship games that happened on Thanksgiving weekend in 2019. <hr /> <strong>DIVISION 1</strong> <strong>St. John Bosco 39, Mater Dei 34</strong> This game is one people will remember for a long time. It featured two now SEC quarterbacks in <strong>DJ Uiagalelei</strong> (Clemson) and <strong>Bryce Young</strong> (Alabama) and the two best football programs in the nation. Some media members and fans suggested that fans were tired of the same two schools playing each other for the CIF championship each year, but the stadium at Cerritos college was filled to capacity with over 12,000 people in attendance. Mater Dei jumped to a 23-point lead in the first half. On the third play from scrimmage, Young threw deep touchdown pass to <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="25281" first="Quincy" last="Craig"]</strong> from 68-yards out to give the Monarchs an early 7-0 lead. The Monarchs forced a three-and-out and [player_tooltip player_id="25109" first="Marceese" last="Yetts"] had a 35-yard punt return which set up a 6-yard touchdown pass from Young to <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="25051" first="Kyron" last="Ware-Hudson"]</strong> to increase the lead to 14. Bosco responded with a field goal and a safety to cut the lead to 9. Defensive end <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="25245" first="Nathan" last="Burrell"]</strong> put the pressure on Young who threw the ball away and was flagged for intentional grounding in the endzone. Mater Dei defensive lineman [player_tooltip player_id="25185" first="Tyler" last="Narayan"] recovered a fumble which set up a touchdown pass from Young to <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="25044" first="Cristian" last="Dixon"]</strong> to go up 21-5. After another great punt return by Yetts, Young threw a touchdown pass to [player_tooltip player_id="25224" first="CJ" last="Williams"], who finished the game with nine catches for 108 yards, to make the score 28-5. Bosco got a touchdown with 30 seconds remaining in the first half on a touchdown pass from Uiagalelei to <strong>Kris Hutson</strong> (Oregon) which began a 34-0 run by the Braves. “I said all week we couldn’t let them have a fast start and they got a fast start, and then we’re down by 23. But I’m just proud of the way we fought back," St. John Bosco coach <strong>Jason Negro</strong> said. "I think our kids did a really good job of being resilient tonight and they were relentless. I think that’s what you need to do beat a team like that. … They’re hungry. This is the pride of our program. We built a culture.” Uiagalelei threw the go-ahead touchdown pass to <strong>Logan Loya</strong> (UCLA) early in the fourth quarter. Uiagalelei completed 26 of 38 passes for 466 yards and five touchdowns. Loya caught passes for 164 yards and two touchdowns and Hutson caught 7 passes for 93 yards and two touchdowns. Young had a big game for Mater Dei but was intercepted three times. He threw for 405 yards and five touchdowns. Williams caught nine passes for 108 yards and a touchdown and Ware-Hudson had 94 yards and two touchdowns. The win was the first CIF championship for St. John Bosco since 2016. They went on to beat De La Salle to win the Open Division State championship. <hr /> <strong>DIVISION 2</strong> <strong>Sierra Canyon 35, Chaminade 7</strong> [player_tooltip player_id="25049" first="DJ" last="Harvey"] was the best player on the field for Sierra Canyon in its blowout win. He caught six passes for 114 yards and had five pass deflections on defense. The Trailblazers rushed for 232 yards and <strong>Hunter Williams</strong> had a pair of touchdowns on the ground. Quarterback [player_tooltip player_id="25073" first="Chayden" last="Peery"] had 178 yards and a touchdown and ran for seven yards a carry. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="25104" first="Jaylen" last="Henderson"]</strong> played hard but wasn’t efficient through the air. He completed just eight of 23 passes for 168 yards and a touchdown. He had a team-high 98 yards on the ground as well. Freshman receiver [player_tooltip player_id="25373" first="Ian" last="Duarte"] had four catches for 90 yards and a touchdown. It was the fifth CIF championship win for Sierra Canyon and the second consecutive championship. The Trailblazers have taken home the trophy <a href="https://sierracanyonathletics.com/sierra-canyon-wins-its-fifth-southern-section-championship/">four of the last five years</a>. <hr /> <strong>DIVISION 3</strong> <strong>Corona del Mar 56, Grace Brethren 28</strong> Corona del Mar had the most lethal passing attack in the state with <strong>Ethan Garbers</strong> (Washington) breaking the Orange County record for passing yards and touchdowns. He had the third most passing yards in the nation. Grace Brethren put five guys in the box and dared Corona del Mar to run the ball. The Sea Kings did just that and Garbers ran for 105 yards and three touchdowns and <strong>Riley Binnquist</strong> rushed for 146 yards and a touchdown. Garbers got it done through the air as well, throwing for 280 yards and four touchdowns. <strong>John Humphreys</strong> (Stanford) caught 11 passes for 143 yards and three touchdowns. <strong>Julien Stokes</strong> was the playmaker for Grace Brethren, rushing for 142 yards and just 11 carries and two touchdowns, including an 80-yard run. Corona del Mar ended up narrowly beating Oceanside in the regional finals and beating Serra of San Mateo in the Division 1A State championship. <hr /> <strong>DIVISION 4</strong> <strong>San Juan Hills 21, Loyola 15</strong> There was some controversy prior to the game about whether the Loyola football stadium could accommodate a CIF championship sized crowd. San Juan Hills used its stellar defense to win its first CIF championship in school history. They held Loyola quarterback <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="25209" first="Brayden" last="Zermeno"]</strong> to 138 yards passing and forced two interceptions. <strong>Joey Hobert</strong> (Washington State) blocked a field goal, had a fumble recovery and had 10 tackles on defense. <strong>Austin Hogan</strong> ran for 144 yards on 29 carries with a touchdown in the Stallions’ ball control offense. <hr /> <strong>LOWER DIVISIONS</strong> Aquinas beat St. Paul of Santa Fe Springs in the Division 5 championship on the back of <strong>Terayon Sweet</strong> who rushed for 189 yards and three touchdowns. Pacifica of Oxnard narrowly beat La Serna 42-41 in a thrilling Division 6 championship game. <strong>Malik Sherrod</strong> had 134 yards and two touchdowns on the ground for Pacifica and <strong>Kyrie Wilson</strong> had 97 yards and a touchdown receiving. <strong>Caleb McCullough</strong> had 23 tackles and an interception for the Tritons’ defense. <strong>Andrew Henriquez</strong> had 239 yards and two touchdowns in the air and ran for 114 yards and a touchdown for La Serna. It was a battle between top running backs in the Division 7 championship game and <strong>Brody Hughes</strong> and Temecula Valley came out on top 28-21 over Cypress. Hughes rushed for 115 yards and two touchdowns for the Golden Bears. The Temecula Valley defense forced three fumbles which ended up being a major factor in the game. <strong>Isaac Hurtado</strong> (Army) of Cypress rushed for 115 yards on 31 carries with two touchdowns. <strong>Elijah Vaielua</strong> caught seven passes for 151 yards and a touchdown pass from <strong>Dylan Eldredge</strong>, who had 221 yards passing. Sunny Hills won its first championship since 1992 when it beat Santa Barbara 24-21. <strong>Vincent Silva</strong> had a pair of touchdowns receiving and was effective in the ground game for the Lancers as well. <strong>Carson Irons</strong> led the Lancers defense with 14 tackles. Highland, Crescenta Valley, Marina, El Monte, Esperanza and South Torrance also won CIF championships last year on Thanksgiving weekend in the Southern Section’s biggest playoff season in history. Hopefully in a few months we will be able to crown new CIF champions in football.