SAN MATEO – Late in Serra’s 56-16 loss to unfathomably-talented St. John Bosco-Bellflower on Saturday, a common refrain could be heard along the San Mateo school’s sideline.
It wasn’t one of frustration or anger. It was one rooted in motivation and optimism.
Several Serra players were heard telling their teammates that playing against Bosco’s college-caliber players would make their West Catholic Athletic League foes seem tame by comparison if the Padres continued to work hard.
That attitude came from longtime head coach Patrick Walsh.
“I told the team that there’s no losing here, only lessons,” Walsh said. “And there’s only lessons if we take those lessons.”
The Padres wanted to test themselves against the best, and even had some bright moments against the team that beat Serra 45-0 in the 2022 Open Division state championship. But that final result was still, for the most part, a tough lesson.
Bosco quarterback Matai Fuiava threw for 195 yards and two touchdowns. Maliq Allen rushed for a 65-yard score on a one-play drive, and then after Serra tied the game on a long march downfield, Bosco reasserted its dominance when Fuiava connected with Carson Clark for a 63-yard touchdown bomb to make it 14-7.
Serra held the ball for the majority of the first half, deliberately slowing the game down and only snapping with a few seconds left on the play clock.
Facing a team that outweighed them at almost every position, Serra did not deviate from its run-first ethos regardless of how many times Bosco crunched its ballcarriers. Nano Latu rushed for 61 yards on 19 carries, and Andrew Heneghan threw for 249 yards and was cool on third and fourth down.
On their first scoring drive, the Padres pitched the ball to Jeovanni Henley in their trademark “Raider” formation. He raced to the perimeter and slipped in for the touchdown.
The run game’s success behind blockers such as Louis Akpa, alongside the excellent play of tight end Clay Hinsdale (89 yards on five catches), gave the Padres some reason for optimism.
“Playing against the very best, it is the ultimate mirror for what we need to do to improve and get better,” Walsh said. “I think you saw flashes of a really good football team, and also saw flashes of a team that has a lot of work to do.”
Hinsdale was ready to put in that work after the San Mateo school dropped its second consecutive game. After opening the year with a victory at Folsom, Serra lost to De La Salle in Concord last week.
“We have to get in the weight room, and this is a message to us to not run (from challenges),” the senior said.
Bosco’s size and speed was too overwhelming in the end though. While Serra had to grit and claw for every yard, the Braves ripped off chunk plays at will.
When Serra made a mistake, such as throwing an interception in the red zone down only 21-10 with around a minute left in the half, it was backbreaking. Bosco’s multi-faceted attack promptly marched downfield and put Braves up 28-10 at halftime on a 19-yard Christian Davis jump ball touchdown.
“I mean, there was so much positive in getting ourselves into that position, where you can have something manageable going into the second half,” Walsh said. “Then it just became unmanageable.”
The second half was a formality, with one of the few highlights being Latu rushing in for a touchdown early in the fourth quarter.
Most of the quarter was played with a running clock, and Walsh and his coaching rival and friend Jason Negro then embraced at midfield in the handshake line.
“They’re a Trinity League-like team, without question,” Negro said. “They could play down there and play their physical brand of football.”
Unlike the past two years, Serra (1-2) has something to look forward to after a lopsided loss to a SoCal powerhouse. The Padres will get to play that brand of ball against the WCAL following a bye week.
“The benefit is hopefully we have 10 games or so left to work on the things we need to work on to help us win the WCAL,” Walsh said. “When you’re 14-0 and the team is the best, one of the best teams you’ve ever had, and are in a game like that, it’s a different feeling altogether.”
