SAN FRANCISCO — K.J. Carta-Samuels couldn't come up with a word to describe how much
Bellarmine's football team has improved since an opening day 41-7 loss to De La Salle-Concord nine weeks ago.
He didn't really need to.
The Bells showed it during a superb 35-28 win over a very good and host
St. Ignatius' (San Francisco) team on Saturday afternoon.
K.J. Carta-Samuels, Bellarmine
File photo by Bob Kupper
St. Ignatius' hopes for a historic West Catholic Athletic League season were strangled and run over by a ball-control offense that the Bells have nearly perfected over the years. Their power machine-like running game has led them to a pair of state-bowl appearances.
Bellarmine controlled the ball, rushed for 303 of their 404 yards and got another big game from quarterback Carta-Samuels.
The burly and fast 6-foot-2, 210-pound junior who committed to Vanderbilt before even taking a varsity snap, once again showed he is the WCAL's most valuable player by rushing for 92 yards, throwing for 101 and accounting for four touchdowns.
Kenneth Olugbode, a powerful 6-1, 205-pound senior, also punished St. Ignatius with 109 yards on 20 carries and fleet
Joey Sanfilippo, who has run a 10.70 100-meter dash, added touchdown of 29 (run) and 38 (catch) yards as the Bells (7-1, 5-0 WCAL), ranked third in Northern California by MaxPreps, won their seventh straight since the humbling loss to De La Salle.
"That seems like a long time ago," Carta-Samuels said of the De La Salle loss. "I can't even put into words how much we've improved since then. We just put in the work, never lost faith and listened to our coaches."
St. Ignatius (6-2, 4-1) has sung the same tune all season and was hoping for its first outright WCAL title in 45 years, but it couldn't stop the Bells – especially on third down – or move the ball consistently.
The Wildcats did pile up 371 yards, but 80 of that came on a third-quarter touchdown run by
Albert Waters, and 95 more came on a gritty back-to-the-wall drive midway through the fourth quarter that was capped with a 3-yard touchdown pass from
Jack Stinn (12 of 24, 182 yards) to
Andrew Vollert (seven catches, 106 yards, two TDs).
That made the score 35-28 with 3:56 remaining.
St. Ignatius knew it might not get the ball back so it followed with an onside kick that was recovered by Bellarmine's A.J. Forchette. Sure enough, the Bells ran off eight running plays divided between Carta-Samuels and Olugbode to run out the clock.
"That's Bellarmine football," Bellarmine coach Mike Janda said. "I was most pleased with how we ran the ball and kept their offensive off the field. Our defense gave up 28 but considering how explosive they are, I was happy with that."
Said St. Ignatius coach John Regalia: "They made plays when the needed to – more so than us. But I was pleased with effort."
St. Ignatius took advantage of a fumble recovery by
Noah Bull to drive just 25 yards capped by a 15-yard TD pass from Stinn to Vollert to take its only lead 7-0.
Bellarmine rattled off three touchdowns before halftime on two passes from Carta-Samuels, who added a 3-yard run. His 35-yard strike over the middle to Jared Vallner came with 30 seconds left in the half and on fourth down.
"That one hurt," Regalia said.
Albert Waters, St. Ignatius
File photo by David Stephenson
St. Ignatius cut the lead to 21-14 midway through the third on an
Elijah Dale 1-yard run, but the 1,000-yard rusher finished with just 50 yards on 14 carries. Bellarmine responded with a 65-yard touchdown drive, capped by a Carta-Samuels 3-yard run, before Waters broke loose on his 80-yard scamper, making it 28-21.
Waters had a superb all-around game with a pair of leaping interceptions and nifty returns.
But two possessions later, Sanfilippo finished off a 55-yard drive with his 29-yard scamper, before St. Ignatius answered with another clutch TD drive. Faced with 3rd-and-25 from its own 5, St. Ignatius got a clutch 29-yard completion from Stinn to Waters.
Stinn, an athletic and nimble-footed left-hander, then completed a 33-yarder to Vollert, an 11-yarder to Dale before scrambling for 12 yards. That set up his 3-yard TD to Vollert - again on fourth down - with 3:56 to play.
Unfortunately for the Wildcats, they would never get the ball back. They couldn't stop Bellarmine's double-wing, smashmouth attack.
"If we were going to win the ballgame we had to make first downs," Janda said. "We didn't want to give them the ball back and we didn't. That put it away."
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